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SIR ALBION RAJKUMAR BANERJI

M.A., C.S.I., C.I.e., I.C.S. (Retd.)

THROUGH

AN INDIAN CAMERA

BY

SIR ALBION RAJKUMAR BANERJI
M.A., C.S.I., C.I.E.

Formerly of the Indian Civil Service
EX‘Dewan of Cochin^ Mysorefetc.

PUBLISHED BY :

THE BANGALORE PRINTING & PUBLISHING CO., LTD.
BANGALORE CITY

1946

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED AT THE BANGALORE PRESS, MYSORE ROAD

BANGALORE CITY

PREFACE

Since my return to India at the end of 1940
after an absence of nearly twelve years during which
period I travelled extensively in Persia, Near East,
Egypt, all European countries including Russia,
U.S.A., and Central America, I took the opportunity
as it presented itself of expressing my views on various
occasions on current Indian topics. I am now
publishing my speeches and writings relating to this
period in the hope that that they may help in the
study and solution of the problems which have grown
in complexity in the past few years.

Bangalore,!
March 1946 .)

Albion R. Banerji.

CONTENTS

Page

1. Diary Notes of Journey from England to

India and Landing at the New Cochin Port,
October-December 1940 .. l

2. Reply to the Address presented by the Trichur

Municipal Council, December 1940 .. 17

3. Reply to the Civic Address presented by the

Ernakulam Municipal Council, December
1940 . . . . . . . . 22

4. Reply to the Address given by the Cochin

Aided Primary School Teachers’ Associa-
tion in St. Thomas College, Trichur, Decem-
ber 1940 . . . . . . . . 28

5. Lecture delivered at Nagpur to the Servants

of India Society on “The War and the New
World Order ”, February 1941 . . , . 32

6. Contribution to the Statesman^^ on “Danger

Ahead”, May 1941 . . . . . . 42

T. Letter to the Times of India*" on “Arms

for Civic Guards’s, May 1941 . . . . 47

8. Speech before the Rotary Club, Dehra Dun,

on “The World Crisis and the Future of
India”, July 1941 49

9. Letter to the Associated Press on the Death

of Lord Willingdon, August 1941 . . 58

VI

Page

10. Speech on the Second Anniversary of the War

given at a Public Meeting in Dehra Dun,
September 1941 . . . . . . 62

11. Broadcast Speech at Lucknow on “Planned

Living”, October 1941 .. .. .. 70

12. Speech before the Rotary Club, Asansol, on

“Russia”, December 1941 .. .. 77

13. Notes on a Scheme of Mr. Manu Subedar for

an Anti-Communal League, 1942 . . 88

14. Speech at a Luncheon Meeting of the Rotary

Club, Bombay, on “Union of India — A
Suggestion”, June 1942 . . . . . . 93

15. Notes on Pakistan, March 1941 . . . . 102

16. Lecture on “Pre-War Economic Conditions of

Europe and After” to the Historical Society
of the Elphinstone College, Bombay,
August 1942 . . . . ..> . . . . 108

17. Letter to the '"Tin.es of Irdia^^ on “Compro-

mise and Unity”, September 1942 . . 123

18. Article as published in the ** Hindustan

Rev/cw” on “Sir Stafford Cripps and After
— ^A Retrospect and Prospect”, September
1942 .. .. .. ..126

19. Letter to the Times of India^^ on “Extra-

Territorial Rights”, October 1942 .. 134

Vll

Page

20. Article as published in the "'Indian Review"

on “The World War and the Feminine”,
November 1942 137

21. Comments on Mr. Churchill’s Broadcast,

March 1943 148

22. Speech at the Bangalore Century Club Silver

Jubilee Celebration, March 1943 . . 152

23. Contribution to "Federal India and Indian

States" on “Post-War Problems of Indian
States”, June 1943 .. ... .. 161

24. Speech before the Rotary Club, Bangalore,

on “Place of India in the World to Come”,

July 1943 170

25. Speech before the Athenaeum Club, Jaipur, on

“Post-War Reconstruction with Special
Reference to India”, December 1943 .. 181

26. Speech at the Century Club Congratulating

Recipients of Mysore Honours, August
1944 189

27. Letter to the “ Times of India ” on “What

Next?”, October 1944 .. .. 193

28. Stray Thoughts on “Power Politics”, 1944 ». 195

29. Speech at the Y.M.C.A., Bourdillon Branch,

on “Planning for Prosperity” at which
Sir C. V. Raman was the Principal Speaker,
October 1944 .. .. .. .. 201

Page

viil

30, “Youth and the Post-War World” as pub-

lished in the Indian Review^\ November

1944 . . . . . . . . 204

31, Speech at the Prize-Giving of the Indian

Institute -of Science Gymkhana, March

1945 . . . . . . . . 215

32, Speech Inaugurating the Third Conference of

the 91st District of Rotary International
held at Bangalore, April 1945 . . . . 21S

’33. Letter to the Press* on “Sapru Committee

Proposals”, April 1945 .. .. 226

34. The End of the War in Europe — What It

Means, May 19, 1945 . . . . . . 231

35. Views on the Wavel Plan, June 1945 . . 237

36. Epilogue . . . . . . 242

Diary Notes of Journey from England to

India and Landing at the New Cochin Port
October-December 1940

The journey cannot be fully described for if the
letter gets into enemy hands, the information, to
quote the Ministry may be useful to the enemy ”,
but I have sent letters to friends of a vague kind
during the voyage which may give some idea.

Now I am in a position to give further details.
I was not at all aware that there were so many going
along in the same boat. The stack of baggage in
the Customs and Emigration Shed was at Liverpool,
to say the least, mountain-high, and it took the Port
Authorities to clear everything from 1-30 to 5 p.m.
The procedure was simple. We had to hand in the
ration and identity cards, get the pass-ports checked
up, give up the cameras, declare contents of our
baggage, some of which were examined by the girls
employed by the Censor Department. I was one of
the first to get through the bar, and felt some relief
to get on board, but I was disappointed with the
out-of-date arrangements in the steamer, having
travelled in various lines throughout the world, in
fact, I found hardly any change after 30 years. This
struck me as a very backward and unenterprising
character of the company, which is reluctant to spend
any money on improvements. The boat began to
move from its moorings late in the afternoon, but

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was anchored mid-stream, and we did not actually
sail till the next day. The impression of the first
night was of a most harrowing character, for we had
air-raids practically the whole night, and might have
been the victim of explosive bombs any moment.
The black-out arrangements were perfect, and in the
darkness of the night, even though there was no
moon, no light was shown on deck. Cigarettes and
torches were prohibited, and the whole crowd of
passengers, after dinner, had no other place but the
Saloon, which was all blacked out with no ventilation
whatever. In fact, it was a really hot den of human
beings gasping for breath. Those who were below
the Promenade Deck had their cabins all blacked out,
the port-holes closed, and those who were on the
Promenade and Boat Deck had to grope in the dark
and find the cabin doors, which was not an easy
task. Many people had accidents such as bruises
owing to knocking against obstructions.

The impression of the crowd of passengers was
a mixed one, all ages from 80 to a baby of 6 months
were represented. Many had a scared look, as if
escaping from fire. Those who were old naturally
found some excuse to go back to their old places
and work in India, Ceylon, Rangoon and Malay
States, where they had made their money, and to which
they were taking as much as they could in travellers
cheques, etc. In cash we could not take more than
£ 10 worth of Bank notes.

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA 3

Once we got on way there was no sign amongst
the passengers that they had left a country devastated
by war. Careless enjoyment and irresponsibility
characterized the daily routine. Women were in all
sorts of ridiculous costumes, which may be fashion-
able in some groups of society, but ordinarily they
would not be tolerated in hotels or restaurants, older
the women, the more exaggerated the types. The
younger girls were on the whole passable and of
good behaviour, but the middle-aged women were
certainly no credit to the British race. The old men
were selfish in the extreme, the young men, some
of them joining their commercial posts in Burma,
etc., had a feeling of relief that they have left the war
for good . They were the men that should have been
compelled to join up, but who escaped on some
pretext or other. It would have done them good to
fight, on the other hand, they were returning to the
East with all the brag and arrogance of youth to-day,
and disgraced themselves often by drinking too much
and against this, even the Captain had no control.
It was impossible at nights to sleep with the noise
that went on, even though a complaint was made
to the Captain, and he promised to put a notice,
nothing was done. My reaction therefore, after I
had controlled my own feelings about leaving England
and so many dear friends, was one of deep depression
and disgust, and a great feeling of despair as for the
future after the end of this war. What I saw gave

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me the idea of collecting information like Douglas
Reid, who wrote “ Disgrace abounding ” with a
title “ What was wrong with England When the
radio news was heard about the war, the indifference
shown in the faces of those that listened, the want of
knowledge as to the sacrifice that was being made by
the poor people of the country, and the bravery
and skill that were shown by the young in the R.A.F.,
were not of much concern. With such a state of
mind, it was natural that I kept aloof, although
gradually I came to know a few persons who could
talk intelligently and who had ideas in their true
perspective regarding the future of this war, but they
were very few. The first one I talked to, was a big
planter in Ceylon, very influential who sat at the
Captain’s table, and who asked me to give him my
latest collection of articles, “ Looking Ahead in War
Time It was through him that a young girl, going
out to Quetta to get married to a Frontier soldier,
very naively asked me to lend this book to her to
read. This shows the unspoilt character of young
men and women when they first go out to the East.
It went into circulation during the voyage among
several, and I also gave my book, “ The Rhythm
of Living ” to many. Strange to say, that as regards
amusement there was hardly any in the boat. During
other voyages I have been asked to give a talk on
some topic or another, but here people cared for
nothing but drinking, playing bridge, and dancing in

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA 5

pitch darkness in the forepart of the ship. You cart
imagine the rest.

The voyage from the navigation point of view
was a great credit to the Captain, but apart from the
position of the stars, the sun and the moon, we really
did not know in which direction we were going, and,
although, the day’s run was announced with the usual
game of having a tote, we all knew that the figure
was fictitious. Some clever young man tried to
add up these figures, took hold of the Atlas map,
and tried to chalk out the route of the ship, but he
was promptly found out, and the Atlas was then
removed from the Saloon. Truth to tell, we
wandered about the whole of the Atlantic trying to
avoid submarines and raiders, and came to the first
port of call, Freetown, which was a mandated territory.
There was an air-raid from Daker — a French plane
coming regularly once a week — but no bombs were
dropped and anti-aircraft fired into the sky. Here
we saw a hospital ship, two small cruisers of very
old type. For some reason or other, we were not
allowed to land. This was a mock raid and a panto-
mime in fact, but a war performance under a gentle-
man’s agreement. It was a torture to remain in
the boat in the still atmosphere of West Africa,
watching a few natives of the country in their canoes,
trying to amuse the passengers by singing crazy
English or American Jazz songs, and diving for coins.
It was however a relief to see land after several days.

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Land soon disappeared when we began to move again,
and then we went North, West, South, East for more
than two weeks and after a wearisome and almost
unbearable tedium of a voyage full of monotony and
danger, we arrived at Cape Town, hoping that here
at least it may be possible to get some diversion and
a couple of days better climate. In South Africa, at
this time, it was spring weather, delightfully cool, and
the Table Mountain with its gigantic head tower-
ing above the sea, certainly made a most imposing
landscape in the Cape of Good Hope. We made
our own little parties, and went by car to the foot of
the mountain, some of us climbed up to the top by
ropeway, majority of us went to the best hotels and
restaurants to have a change of food and drink.
This country is really a White Man’s country. The
labour was white at the docks, the coloured man was
seen nowhere, and in fact, interdicted from entering
within the precincts of Cape Town and its suburbs.
The look of the town, its lay-out, its cleanliness, and
the efficiency of management in regard to everything
that one saw, showed almost perfect Dutch power of
organisation, and no doubt this combined with the
genius to colonize must be the cause of such a wonder-
ful development of the whole of the Union of South
Africa. I visited General Smut’s official residence,
did some shopping and particularly noticed the
beauty and charm of the girls in the shops and else-
where. They were for the most part naturally of

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA T

Dutch origin, fair hair, lovely complexion, and blue
eyes. The town itself being the Capital of the Union
during the winter months, is wonderfully laid out,
full of variegated foliage and flowers, some tropical,
and some semi-tropical. The University and grounds
and the famous Rhodes Memorial were well worth a
visit. It was a great relief to have this couple of days
change from the boat, but it was not very comfortable
to sleep in the cabins when the boat was in harbour.

The end of the journey was not even then in
sight, for, although from Cape Town to Cochin
was not more than two thousand and odd miles,
another two weeks at least were estimated as the
duration of the remainder of the journey. The
black-out restrictions still continued to its utmost
rigour, although the life-belts were left in the cabins.
It was, however, strange that there was just one boat
drill, and for the passengers one life-belt drill during
the whole voyage so far. To relieve the monotony,
some sports were organised of skittles, a favourite
game, and a Bridge tournament. They were very
badly managed, and were more of a bore than enjoy-
ment. The food was getting worse and worse, and
it did not seem as if the ship got replenishments from
Cape Town. Water also got scarce, and we hardly
had any fresh-water for our baths for several days,
the supply in the cabins was also shut down after
breakfast. In fact, it was a wonder that there was
no illness on board, especially amongst the children

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and their mothers. There should have been a
condensing plant for such a long voyage, but, of
course, this was too much to be expected. The
two weeks passed somehow, all the rowdyism of
some of the passengers increased, the heat was
intense in the Indian Ocean, and after 14 days of
zig-zagging, we saw the coast of Malabar at a dis-
tance, the New Cochin Harbour hidden, behind a green
belt of coconut palms with the background of low-
lying hills.

I was Dewan of Cochin from 1907 to 1914 and
had a great deal of correspondence with the British
•Government about the Cochin Harbour Scheme.
I fought for the rights of the Cochin State and
investigated into the possibilities while on special
duty in 1910 in England. What I prophesied in
1910 was that Cochin will one day be a first class
harbour and ocean liners will call from all parts
of the World. It was then a dream, but founda-
tions were laid though it took nearly 30 years to
push the schemes through. In one of my letters
as Dewan in 1911 I stated as follows:

Trade Development

“The development of trade in British
Cochin is due in a large measure to the sacrifice
that this Durbar have made and to the spirited
policy that she has pursued in regard to the

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA »

and the construction of the Railway. The
inland backwaters between Cochin and
Emakulam present excellent facilities for the
construction of a magnificent harbour, but
the question of constructing this harbour has
hitherto been taken up by the Cochin Chambei
of Commerce, although the Durbar’s interest
in the matter is considerable and cannot for a
moment be denied.

“The backwater is described by experts
as ‘a wet dock of greater area than all the
great docks of Great Britain put together’.
The importance of Cochin as the greatest outlet
in the West Coast for the trade of Southern
India, especially in regard to her past history
and her subsequent development in Railways
and internal water communications, cannot
now for a moment be doubted.

Treaty Arrangements

“Looking at all the questions referred to
above from a general standpoint, the Durbar
consider that no more suitable opportunity
can be found for reopening the question of
the horbour improvement in conjunction with
the proposed anti-erosion schemes as well as
all matters connected with the modifications
that must necessarily have to be made in the
treaty ■ arrangements and stipulations now

F

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existing with reference to the trade at British
Cochin, between this Durbar and the British
Government. Cochin can in fairness and
justice claim to be the leading partner in the
scheme, take the initiative, undertake the enter-
prise and thus derive the fullest benefit from her
natural position of advantage, which has hitherto
been denied to her owing to her own altruistic
policy.

“ Looking at the scheme and its possibilities
from a broad and general standpoint, it is im-
possible not to be struck with the advantages
that Cochin possesses, which in spite of the fact
that they have been brought to notice on several
occasions, have nevertheless up to the present
time not encouraged the enterprise being under-
taken either by Government or capitalists. A
reference to the map will show that, for vessels
plying between Europe and Australia via Suez
Canal, Cochin is the more conveninent place of
■call than Colombo and inevitably more accessible
than Madras.

“ Further, while Colombo and Madras are
■entirely dependent on artificial means for their
harbours. Cochin already possesses an enormous
and deep natural inner basin capable of unlimited
expansion. The backwater between Emaculum
and Cochin is 2^ miles broad and is of great
depth in many places. Its advantages as a

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA 11

naval port have already been pointed out in the
past correspondence. It could afford anchorage
and safe hiding to battle ships and torpedo boats,
and it could also provide berths for a large fleet
of commerce.

“ The Durbar are strongly of opinion that
the present conditions are extremely favourable for
taking up the whole scheme, which is found to
prove financially prosperous, as well as a great
boon not only to the State and the surrounding
country, but also to the whole of Southern India.

“ In conclusion, I am to add that the Durbar
Will be prepared to bear the initial cost of the
investigation that may be ordered by the British
Government, or they are themselves prepared
to undertake the investigation on their own
responsibility, if permission be granted to them
to convert the inner backwaters into an expansive
harbour according to the rough plan indicated
above.”

It will thus be seen that when Cochin appeared
on the horizon and my boat steamed inside the back-
waters what a thrill it was to see a dream realised.

After a lapse of 26 years, nearly a generation —
I landed at this new port of Cochin alongside
Willingdon Island. At first sight there was not
any great transformation to show that a big harbour
had been constructed. It was indeed a thrilling
experience to enter the backwaters in a big liner

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through the bar which at one time was considered
a permanent obstruction to an inner harbour being
■constructed in Cochin. The correspondence giving the
history of the initiation of the scheme when I was
Dewan from 1910 onwards, will be interesting reading,
and a detailed account of it was published by me
in the Madras Mail of July 6, 1935, an extract from
which has already been given above.

What has actually happened during the past
thirty years or more of negotiations between Cochin,
the British Government and Travancore is a matter
of public knowledge and it need not be referred to
to say here. Suffice to say however, that when I left
Cochin there was no lack of information as to what
was happening about the harbour.

One or two newspaper extracts which appeared
at the time of my arrival in Cochin will prove the
point. For example the Malabar Herald published
the following;

“ Sir Albion Banerji, the Ex-Dewan of
Cochin, who has been in London for a pretty
long time is paying Cochin a visit after these
long years, and we offer him a hearty welcome.
As Dewan of Cochin when the late abdicated
Maharaja was the ruler, he had made a mark
for virile, dynamic statesmanship. Although
he belonged to the I.C.S. yet his heart was
always for Cochin. As Dewan of Mysore,
he had shown the capacity of Indians for

. JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA 13

governance. After a short spell in Kashmir, he
left for England and during these troublous times
he has been acting more or less as an unofficial
ambassador of India in foreign lands. He
is also a facile journalist, as he is editing a
Quarterly, called the Indian Affairs, in London.
His lecture tours in foreign lands, especially in
the U.S.A., were conducive to enlisting their sym-
pathies for the political aspirations of India.
As regards the initiation of the Cochin Harbour
scheme, he played a prominent part as Dewan
of Cochin. His versatile articles on Indian
affairs show bis political flair and sympathetic
imagination. In his retirement in London he
is not having a life of ease and comfort but
laborious days and sleepless nights for the
political emancipation of India.”

Here is another extract from the Editorial of
Gomathi, dated 1st December 1940.

“Sir Albion Banerji who has been the
Dewan of Cochin for 7 years and who has been
the recipient of everlasting admiration and
respect of the public of Cochin and the con-
tinued affection of the Royal Family, has come
again to visit Cochin, and we on behalf of the
public of Cochin heartily welcome him on this
occasion. Nobody has forgotten, nor can any-
body forget, the fact that Sir Banerji has intro-
duced timely reforms and set Cochin as a model

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State for all the other Indian Native States of
those days. Several schemes such as water
supply, etc., which are very useful to the public
have been introduced by him. We can never
forget the encounters he had with the Paramount
Government in regard to the Cochin Harbour
and other matters. On account of these great
services Sir Banerji can never forget Cochin
nor can Cochin forget Sir Banerji.”

I now give some of my impressions on landing.
The Ernakulam frontage showed a vast improve-
ment. The straight road from the Guest House
to the Secretariat was called after the Dewan and to
my surprise, the road from the Ram Mohan Palace —
the new Guest House, leading out of Ernakulam
towards Alwaye, a new broad thoroughfare— was
named after me, without my knowledge. There
were no new buildings except the Dewan’s house and
the Guest House. A considerable clearance has been
made and a site has been selected for the new High
Court. Penetrating through the front, one can hardly
see any change whatever, the congestion, the slums,
and drainage have remained as it was a quarter of a
century ago, and, hence, it was that in my reply to
the Ernakulam Civic Address, I made a point of
the need for expansion and the needs that will come
to the Town Council to meet the growing needs of
the place, if it was to maintain its position as the
capital and the seat of the Government of Cochin. The

JOURNEY FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA 15

institutions I visited showed great expansion, espe-
cially the College. Hospital, the Clubs, the residen-
tial Palace of Princes, and many other institutions
which owed its existence to the grant of land I was
able to make during my Dewanship.

The most remarkable piece of work connected
with the Harbour is the two bridges connecting
Ernakulam with Willingdon Island, and the latter
with Miittancherri. There was a roadway next to
which there is the railroad. The drive along this
roadway was a very picturesque and a remarkably
unique one, but once one entered Miittancherri,
it was hard to believe one’s eyes when one saw the
state of congestion and insanitation in this crowded
neighbourhood. I met some of the Muttancherri
friends later, and in the presence of the Dewan
pointed this out to them, and, it seemed to me that
hardly any attention has been paid to this town,
which is certainly a source of great danger to the
health not only of British Cochin, but of Ernakulam,
The old godowns, the open drains, the low congested
houses, the Jewish quarters, the shops, all practi-
cally were as they stood 30 years ago. This seemed
to me to be incongruous, and out of keeping with
the developments connected with the Harbour.

Visiting the Harbour Works, I certainly was
impressed with what has been done during the 20
years of its construction, and for that, great credit was
due to Mr. Bristow, for his remarkable achievement.

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There is, however, much that remains to be done,
and as his time will shortly be up, be is moving at
a rapid pace to get on with some of the incomplete
work, such as the aerodrome, and some of the ex-
pansions. The Harbour Store Shed was a wonder-
ful piece of work, and, from the models that I was
shown, one could visualize the future, and come
to the conclusion that the Island as it is now, will
hardly suffice for all the operations of the Harbour,
which are growing from year to year. I have not seen
the arrangements in writing made between the British
Government and Travancore with Cochin in this
project, but, generally speaking, it was evident that
whatever happens, the Port has a great future before
it, and some vested interests still have to be sacri-
ficed by some party or the other, to make the
Harbour the biggest, if not one of the biggest in
the whole sea board of India.

Reply to the Address presented by the
Trichur Municipal Council
December 1940

It seldom happens in this life of ours with a
brief span of three score and ten for a man to return
to the country and its people for whom he worked
during the prime of his manhood. I am specially
fortunate in this respect. Since my retirement from
active service eleven years ago, I have become an
intrepid traveller and but for this fact my fate would
have been the same as in the majority of cases as those
who after the cessation of all their activities gradually
fade away with disappointments and misgivings of
a lost world. After a lapse of over thirty years I
come back to the old surroundings of Trichur where
I spent the happiest seven years of my life. Truth
to tell, there is no old Trichur in existence. The
Town is rejuvenated and is proud now to become
almost the second city in Kerala, perhaps the most
beautiful with a setting so characteristic of the Kerala
country, specially of Cochin. You have been.
Gentlemen, singularly fortunate in having had as
your President a distinguished non-official Cochinite
Dr. A. R. Menon, who now holds the Honourable
position of a Minister under the new reforms in His
Highness’ Government. I believe, he has worked
for the local Government of Trichur for over a
decade and it is no exaggeration to say that almost

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all the improvements I see, and* there are many,
are due to his unstinted- labours which have brought
about improvements of a practical nature in the first
instance, and also improvements for the beautification
of the whole town, broadening of its thoroughfares,
opening out extensions, modern roads and pavements,
and chiefly the improvement of the sanitation and
general civic amenities for which Trichur lends itself
owing to its natural situation. In fact I can hardly
recognise the transformation.

Personally I would like to point out to you that
addresses presented to those in authority or in high
places conform to a customary practice, especially
in this country. I have travelled far and wide and yet
I have hardly come across any country in both the
hemispheres where the people follow this practice
as in India, sometimes, perhaps generally, for the
purpose of securing some benefit from those that are
able to grant them. You have taken an unprece-
dented step of honouring me to-day, one who should
by now after the long lapse of years be relegated to
the category of defunct memories. I highly appre-
ciate the signal honour you have done me and as I
am in your midst as an ordinary citizen, and in
recent years as you have heard of my activities more
as an author and lecturer, you will forgive me if I
do not wish to give an official colouring to anything
I may say in reply to this address, although I must
express as an outsider my keen appreciation for the

SPEECH AT TRICHUR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 19

high Standard of your civic administration, your
liberal policy of expenditure for the common good
and your sound and excellent financial position.

You recount some features of my work here. I
can honestly say that whatever may be the merits oi
demerits, and time is not yet come to judge them,
it was Cochin that gave me the opportunity which 1
never would otherwise have secured, of learning the
humane side of the art of Government which v/as
inspired during my time, by the indomitable spirit
and genius of its then illustrious Ruler the Great
Rama Varmah whom I had the privilege and honour
to serve. You well know that what I learned in Cochin,
T used to advantage in other spheres, and so far as
my humble services are concerned they are but a
mere fragment of what has been rendered to you by
my successors the accumulated result of which I see
in evidence in every nook and corner of this State.
Nevertheless, my gratitude to you for this expression
of your good-will and affection has no bounds. And
I have but one duty and that is to thank you for the
expression of your generous sentiments.

In conclusion, I will just say one word. Soon
after the War started in September 1939, some of the
greatest thinkers of the day, including H. G. Wells,
started a forum for discussion in regard to the subject
of a New World Order after the present war was over.
I feel most strongly that war or no war, the existing
world order cannot be sustained and with the great

20 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

upheaval of today and tomorrow, fundamental
changes are going to take place. Amidst those
changes we in this country will have to take our due
place and hold fast to it. We have to conceive a
new order in India, for the old surely will not stand
the test of the general disruption of social and
economic conditions of life that have prevailed in
the past and that are still continuing with the influ-
ence of capitalistic tendencies which are cutting at
the very root of democracy. The forum I just
mentioned emphasised on the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and there was one distinguished
professor who very pointedly drew attention to the
fact that a mere declaration of the rights of man is
inadequate to meet the anxious situation. We have
to also lay a formula regarding the declaration of
responsibilities and obligations resulting from those
rights which we often are prone to forget. Your
responsibilities as representatives of the civic govern-
ment of this town will grow with greater rights bes-
towed upon you by the Government of the country,
as is going to be the case with every Municipal Corpo-
ration all over the world. And I have no doubt that by
the example that you have shown you will also pay
attention to your responsibilities and obligations to the
people whom you serve and unflinchingly cut at the
root of all vested interests which often come as a curse,
even in the West, in the way of a sound system of local
self-government in the truest sense of the world.

SPEECH AT TRICHUR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 21

I again thank you from the bottom of my heart
for this spontaneous expression of your good-will
and affection for I realise that there is nothing but a
genuine desire entirely disinterested to give me a
welcome back to my old home-town, as they call it
in America, and I shall remember this day as one of
the proudest days in my life.

Reply to the Civic Address presented by the
Ernakulam Municipal Council
December 1940

In spite of all the persuasion I could command
I have failed to convince your President that the
presentation of an Address to the Dewan retired
a generation ago is practically to revive human
memories — memories which, if worthy of revival,
are generally recounted in the glorification of those
that have passed away. The position for me to
say the least is distinctly embarrassing and I feel as
if T have been awakened from a long period of slumber
and shown the flower and the fruit as a result of
what the time machine can accomplish. For I
frankly must tell you that the garland of praise put
over my neck is really a historic judgment that
should be awarded in favour of those before me
and after, forming a link as it were, in the evolution
of Cochin’s progress. Personally it amused me a
great deal to learn from one of my old friends, that
he saw a report that I was no more and even an
obituary notice was published. I wonder whether
your Council’s resolution to name one of your new
broad beautiful thoroughfares after my name was
meant as a posthumous honour. Be that as it may,
I am deeply sensitive of this honour done by the
Town Council* at Ernakulam. I feel also proud to
find that the two names, one of your illustrious

SPEECH A T ERNAA ULAM MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 23

Dewan Sir Shanmukham and of myself, separated
by the long span of more than a quarter of a century
should appear to those who pass by, so close and
neighbourly, as if many of their ideals irrespective
of time or space had a sympathetic vibration. This
I may say seems to be a happy coincidence. Your
Address, as I have said elsewhere, is rather a habitual
conformity to custom which does not apply in my case.
But it is more gratifying to find that time has not
erased the marks on the sand tracts of progress,
although it is a long distance to look back namely a
third of a century. Both to you and me it is a unique
opportunity which seldom comes to pass, to shake
hands over a generation during which our children
and grand-children have grown up to find places in
the march of existence. Mere Cabes then or in
the adolescent stage, but hardly with any clear
memories.

Tt is a bold step to take for any man to come
to the scene of his old labours from which many
that were dear to him and who co-operated whole-
heartedly with him have passed away. Furthermore,
the younger generation of today naturally have
short memories of the past, but with glowing and
illuminating perceptions of the future. I have
risked the danger of a cold reception, but beyond
all expectations I have been accorded a welcome,
that has touched my heart, principally for its dis-
interested genuineness. For I come to you as a

24 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

citizen not of a State but of the world, with experience
gained, by a study of world conditions and of peoples
and nations after long years of administrative service
in various parts of India.

You will forgive me if I do not dwell on all
that you have said about my humble achievements,
if they may be so called. They are, after all, small
matters coming in the process of time suited, to its
needs as well as its longings. If I have been of
help I was but an instrument of that illustrious
Ruler of yours, whom I served, whom I have al-
ready mentioned with great reverence to your
sister Council at Trichur the other afternoon.

Before I close may I speak to you about your
future. For I have been a fairly good prophet
in many respects, even in regard to momentous
questions that have come to the front since the war
broke out. I do not wish to be patronising and
congratulate you in the terms of reviews issued
in Government orders about your civic work and
administration of this town. You are the second
in the State in population and revenue. If I may
say so you are undergoing what may be described
as the pains of a new birth.

You are financially sound and with a harbour
in close proximity in the region of your beautiful
backwaters, you have the prospect bpfore you to
be in the truest sense of the word the Venice
of the East, and further more to quote the Dewan

SPEECH AT ERNAKULAM MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 26

Sahib, the Queen of the Arabian Sea. In one of
the broadcast talks your Dewan Sahib said:

“The future development of Willingdon
Island is planned out on a grand and
worthy scale. It will be laid out in modem
style with broad roads and flowery avenues
of trees bordered by buildings artistically
planned. Here will be located the offices and
shops and business houses. When the pro-
jected buldings and other structures are com-
pleted, this place will not only be humming
with all the hectic activity connected with a
modern Port, but will be in harmony with the
beauty of the natural scenery that surrounds it.”
It is also to be noted from the literature on
the subject of the Cochin Port that Cochin State with
the exception of certain parts of Belgium and
Saxony, is the most populous area on the earth.
Furthermore it is hinted that Cochin’s metropolis
has not been laid out to anything like the same
extent as capitals of other States. No doubt it was
felt there was time enough to turn attention to that,
when the harbour of which so much is hoped for,
placed the State on a new footing”. These are
quotations and I underline them for your attention.
Apart from all future possibilities regarding stra-
tegical advantages both from the point of view of
the Defence of India as a whole, and from the point
of view of a bigger place for Cochin in wider sphere.

26 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

you, I know, will always remember that Ernakulam
is the administrative capital of His Highness’ terri-
tories. No matter where the central harbour may
be located. In the process of time throughout the
world local Governments of big cities will be as auto-
nomous and as influential as small kingdoms. I
thus visualise in the future a time when Ernakulam
will have to face many new problems. But I can-
not with my limited knowlegde give any indication
of them looking forward, say, to period of 20 years
hence. But all I do say is with the experience of the
municipal government in many civilised countries
of the West and America, that you will have to bear
a pressure for expansion in regard to the education
of the masses in your jurisdiction, public health,
development under transportation within its limits
or outside, increased water supply, social service,
maternity and child welfare, milk supply and
marketing, industrial and commercial interests,
inland, interstatal and foreign. The question
is whether you will retain sucessfully your pre-
mier position in the State, and be able to insist
upon this with all the force at your command
supported by your Government. I am sure His High-
ness’ ministers will not allow any encroachments
of your inherent rights on the plea of vested interests
or other causes, and thus impair your dominant
position which geographically is your heritage
from the past.

SPEECH AT ERNAKULAM MUNICIPAL COUNCIL 27

In conclusion, gentlemen, I have just to say
one word. I do not come back to India to speak,
for I took upon myself a vow of silence at least for
a time, for the purpose of learning what I have yet
to learn, about my country from which I have been
absent more than a decade. People of Cochin—
all classes combined — have shown me during these
past few days genuine and unmistakeable sense of
their true affection for me and their regard for the
services that I have been privileged to render years
ago. I have been compelled to respond to the
sentiments which have been so eloquently expressed,
and if in doing so I have comitted any indiscretion, I
know I shall have your forgiveness, I wish you and
your town all prosperity in future years to come.

Reply to the Address given by the Cochin
Aided Primary School Teachers’ Association
in St. Thomas College, Trichur
December 1940

In the first place I should like to confess that I
was not prepared for this function this afternoon in
the sense that there was to be an address to which
you would expect a reply. As I said only yesterday
afternoon in reply to the civic address of the Town
Council, I have got over the stage of presentation
of addresses. I am just now in the category as I
said, of ‘ defunct memories ’. From what I hear from
the address, it seems to me, that some of the memo-
ries of the past still linger in the educational sphere
of this beautiful State. Whether I am responsible
for this or not, is a matter for the future historians
to. say. Be that as it may, I tell you one thing, to
prove to you how the education of Cochin has been
and, still is, a very bright spot in the memories of
my past life. When I left Cochin in 1914, I received
many farewell addresses. But among all these
hundreds of functions and tokens of good-will and
affection for me, there was one most striking and
unique souvenir which was given to me by all the
Teachers of the Cochin State both in Aided and
Government Schools. It was a very simple, a very
beautiful, a very characteristic, spontaneous expres-
sion of feelings on the p^rt of the teachers. It was

SPEECH AT COCHIN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION 29

a little flat silver plate in which was engraved a few
lines addressed to me telling in brief what they
thought I had done, not for themselves so much,
but more for education, principally the spread of
Primary and Middle School education. You will be
pleased to note that this little souvenir found a
conspicuous place in my drawing room in my London
home, and I am proud to show it to my old friends.

Well, Teachers, you have a great task before
you today. I know as well as you do, what im-
portant place the Aided Schools hold in the State.
The Aided Agencies undertake the burden of educa-
tion which in most other places in other countries
are primarily borne by the Government. Here, as
a unique feature, the Aided Agencies take an im-
portant part and bear a large share of the burden
so far as primary education is concerned, and there
are even secondary schools and high schools under
Aided Agencies. Well, you are co-ordinated with the
State Government of Education, you have their
sympathy and their encouragement, and from the
address I recall what little I did to encourage you
to give you strength, faith, and conviction in regard
to the noble character of your profession. Now the
time has come, whether you are school teachers in
Aided Agencies’ organisations or under Government,
for you to realise that teaching is not merely a
routine profession just to teach the three R’s, advanc-
ing further to teach in higher grades of instruction.

30 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

But is more than that; teaching is an art which has
to be practised with a sense of humour and with
nn understanding of the psychology of the children
you are training so as to make teaching interesting
to them and not as a bore, or as a process of tedius
labour. In the process of teaching you have, by
your own example and by your own demeanour,
to imprint your personality on your students indi-
vidually and collectively so that they may become
good citizens of the country. Now we have many
disruptive influences which are working even amongst
adolescents in every country in the world, and India
is no exception; by the steadiness of your character,
by the perseverance amongst you to follow the
principles that you have been taught to follow by
your elders, by your determination to show them the
correct path to use knowledge gained, not merely
for economic benefits, but for other better purposes
also, you will be doing a service at this critical junc-
ture in which the world as a whole is going to pieces.
We have to gather all the broken fragments together
in every part of India — in every State, and it is educa-
tion, through a proper system of imparting it, through
a proper organisation of the teaching staff, that we are
able to do this. That is the only message that I
can give you. I don’t want to talk to you about the
war, though I can tell you many an interesting thing
-about. You must realise that the whole world is at
war, that every individual is involved in this war, and

SPEECH AT COCHIN TEACHERS" ASSOCIATION 31

you have to inculcate the message of peace, the
message of harmony, the message and the principle
of elimination of all causes of conflict between
communities. That is all I have got to tell you and
I thank you again most wholeheartedly for this address
which was quite an unexpected pleasure to receive,
which I realise is perfectly disinterested as it is
actuated by no motive, except of good-will towards
myself. I thank you again not only for the honour
but also for the beautiful souvenir, which I shall
cherish with pride and happy memories.

Lecture deKvered at Nagpur to the Servants
of India Society on ‘‘ The War and the
New World Order ”

February 1941

A few weeks before the war broke out, Stephen
King-Hall published some correspondence, includ-
ing a letter from Dr. Goebbels, which he, at his own
expense, reproduced in the Daily Telegraph of
August 12th with a short introductory comment.
The German anti-British propaganda which,
amongst other things, alleged much more than
what has been attributed to Nazidom during the
last five years, so far as the foreign policy and the
imperialistic ambitions of Great Britain are concerned,
is too well known to need repetition. This may
be past history but in discussing war aims and peace
aims they are very relevant, especially in view of
the generally universal belief in Europe today that
the treaty of Versailles has been the cause of two
decades of unrest that led to the present conflag-
ration, and that the new world that is to come
after the war must make further wars impossible.

Several opinions have been expressed since the
war broke out in responsible newspapers in England
on war and peace aims. These opinions, reading
between the lines, incline the unprejudiced observer
to the belief that at the beginning, the majority of
English people did not know what they were fighting

SPEECH AT NA GPUR SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY 33

for. There were many conflicting theories amongst
various political groups which did not support the
policy of Government in declaring war against
Germany on the ostensible ground that the latter
had invaded Poland and England was in honour
bound to give her support. The subsequent, though
not altogether unexpected march of Soviet Russia
into this field of aggression, which righteously
England took upon herself to resist by virtue of her
promises, altered the whole situation. The per-
spective from which considerations of war aims and
peace aims were discussed thus completely changed.
In the beginning, Mr. Chamberlain, Prime
Minister, talked about a new world order, and the
determination of the Western democracies to fight
against aggression. In one of his later speeches
before the House of Commons, he restricted the
scope of British War aims to European Order in
definite terms, thereby giving an opportunity to
his critics to say that the general spirit of unrest
throughout the world, and this spread of aggression
of European nations desirous of expansion against
smaller nations outside Europe, did not concern
England very much. Such a criticism would also
in justice be based on the supposition that England
would help a smaller nation under its control and
support France in the same policy, but would oppose
Italy, Germany, Russia or any other European
nation which would attempt to exempt to extend

34 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

European influence over such parts of the world,
including Asia, inhabited by weaker nations who
could not defend themselves. In the background,
there was the annexation of Austria by Germany,
the ruthless extension of the Third Reich over the
whole of the Czechoslovakian state; Poland was not
admittedly the concrete example of aggression but
a threatening illustration of Nazi policy in Central
Europe. When England declared war against
Germany, with France by her side it was not only
a fight for a righteous cause for freedom, but the
determination to curb the ambition of European
domination by Germany which, so far, nothing has
prevented from spreading.

Since the Russian conquest of Poland and the
division of spoils between the two opposite and pre-
viously hostile countries like Germany and Russia,
a new situation was created, and yet England did
not declare war against Russia, allowed the occupa-
tion of half Poland by U.S.S.R. as an accomplished
fact. This was brought to the public mind all the
more prominently but it was attempted, on the part
of those who saw no inconsistency in the British
foreign policy, to prove that Germany and Russia
became strange companions in a political game
which will soon divide them into hostile camps. Is
this not a safe presumption, and is it not a fact that
Russo-German pact proved the fundamental unity
of purpose underlying both, namely. Imperialism

SPEECH AT NAGPUR SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY 35

at the time but was not likely to continue for
long?

In the minds of those who think deeply on the
subject, a question arises whether France and
England are not also imperialistic in their respective
domains. Have they openly and sincerely given up
imperialism as one of the planks of their foreign
policy? They have both colonial empires to protect,
and supposing Germany is beaten as it must be and
the Versailles Treaty is not repeated, what will be
the victorious democracies’ suggestion for a lasting
peace? Will they surrender any fraction of their
interest ? So far, no clear answer has been given to
this question.

All the discussion, about war aims and peace
aims, discloses a confusion of ideas amongst the
Governments concerned, and the future historians
will declare that never in the history of the world
was any war started with such vague conceptions
regarding the rights and privileges of nations which
only affect them and not others. The organisation
of the League of Nations under the covenant,
acting on the principle of collective security, failed to
stem the tide of aggression. Weaker nations were
at the mercy of the stronger. Unless the whole world
agrees to have a federal system of security with powers
to enforce it, the war that started on the 3rd Septem-
ber 1939 is not likely to be the last one in our own
generation.

36 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

The new Commonwealth Society founded by
Lord Davies has, since 1932, been constantly pressing
upon the attention of the British public the necessity
of adding to the League of Nations machinery, an
equity tribunal and an International Police Force.
Recently they have published a declaration embody-
ing certain proposals for the establishment of a better
European order without restricting the term
“ European ” by the exclusion of the British Common-
wealth of Nations outside Europe or the U.S.A.
They proposed a Federal assembly, a judiciary, and
executive ministers in the constitution. This proposal,
in fact, amounts to the establishment of a European
federation although the term has not been used.

Before the collapse of France, the French Premier,
M. Daladier, also gave his opinion that the only
salvation of Europe lives in the establishment of a
United State of Europe under a federation scheme,
thus repeating the conception of his predecessor,
M. Briand, given out to the world shortly before his
death.

We have to consider sufficiently in advance
whether, when peace terms are being discussed, there
is any possibility of the establishment of a federation
or confederation of the nations of the world.
The Allies have to anticipate, as they in fact do, a
long struggle and in that struggle they .must secure
the co-operation of all the democracies of the world,
and where such democratic forms of government are

SPEECH AT NAGPUR SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY 37

non-existent, attempt forthwith to introduce them
thereby removing the inconsistencies of their posi-
tions which are being attacked by German propa-
ganda almost every day.

Considerable public attention has been drawn
to the very original and striking book written by
Mr. Clarence Streit, called “ Union New ”, in which
he prc^osed the establishment of a federal govern-
ment, elected at first by the people of fifteen demo-
cratic states and in time by the people of the whole
world. I have not seen a more cogent and power-
ful criticism of Mr. Streit’s scheme than the one
written by Mr. James Ashton in his pamphlet
“ National Unity for World Leadership ” published
recently. One of these objections of Mr. Ashton
may here be mentioned. He says the proposal to
confine the federation to democratic countries would
immediately label it as an anti-communist or anti-
facist group, whereas true world leadership should
not be “ anti ” although it should provide something
superior to both. He illustrates this objection by
further asking the question “ At what stage would
the non-democratic countries be admitted ? ”
Mr. Streit did not include India as fit to participate in
this federation at the earliest stages, although India
was considered to be a member of the British Com-
monwealth of Nations. Here is an example which
illustrates the point of Mr. Ashton’s criticism. When
India becomes completely democratic, then only

38 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

she becomes admissible in the scheme of world
federation; till then she naturally will be excluded
as inferior. Here is the crux of the problem so far
as the relationship between Great Britain and India
is concerned.

In criticising Mr. Streit’s proposal in which
he excludes India from federation of the Union, at a
dinner discussion in London presided over by Lord
Lothian, I stated as follows : —

India to-day holds the key to the peace of the
world if she is strong, united, and continues to remain
in the British Empire as a friendly ally and not as a
subordinate member. She has abundant natural
resources for the production of war materials and
she can put forward a vast army of not less than a
million men if she chooses. In support of this, I
have only to quote Mr. Lloyd George when he spoke
in the House of Commons on the Military Training
Bill. He said “ The East seems to be left out of our
calculations, but Japan is the greatest menace we
have ever had to our Empire in the East. Her march
across China is pointing like a spear towards India.
In the last war we had a force of 1,000,000 men from
India, and we could practically leave the defence of
our interests in Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia
to it. The French were helped by 5,000,000 men
from Indo-China.”

If India remains within the British Empire as a
co-partner and a friendly ally, she will exercise the

SPEECH AT N A GPUR SEPTA ATTS OE INDIA SOCIETY 39

greater influence towards world peace, and therefore
any conception of the arrangement for a New World
Order even with the co-operation of America and
some of the other democracies now free or those to
be freed from Nazi domination would be futile with-
out the active co-operation of India.

Thus we come to the vital issues in this war.
There is no doubt that every fibre of the whole British
Empire will be strung up to the utmost to fight the-
war to the bitter end, but in conjunction with war
effort up to its maximum limit. Great Britain should
have her foreign and colonial policy so re-oriented’
that when the time comes her sincerity of purpose
and the bona-fides of her declarations may not be
questioned from any quarter. By such a course,
she will give an example fit to be emulated not only
by the democracies of Europe but also by U.S.A.
and democracies of the whole American continent.
There is yet another gain that may be anticipated,
namely, the possible re-approachment between
Europe and Asia in the future adjustments of world
relations, a rapprochement which must be secured
during the progress of this war and not after, for
without it there is gravest possible danger that the
future wars will be a continuous conflict between the
two great continents of Europe and Asia. East and
West will come to grips with each other for final
supremacy in the civilisation of the twenty-first century.
Sir Frederick White, in his book the “Future of East

to THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

mdWest”, while admitting that Europe remains the
:entral political area in the world for the key to
peace, postulates that the “ Eastern hemisphere will
:ome to supply a new and weighty element necessi-
tating the establishment of a new equilibrium for the
whole

Since the above was written H. G. Wells’ book
the “ New World Order ” has been published. In
Section 9 he says : —

1. The establishment of a progressive world
socialism in which the freedoms, health and happiness
of every individual are protected by a universal law
based on a redeclaration of the rights of man, and
wherein there is the utmost liberty of thought,
criticism and suggestions, is the plain rational
objective before us now.

In Section 10 he gives advanced ideas about the
declaration of the rights of man. The work is no
doubt extremely valuable at the present time, but as
a true Englishman he looks at the whole problem
from the insular point of view, if I may so describe it,
and he mentions Russia and India, the near and the
far East, as having really very little to do in the
creation of a new world order. We have to make
our minds clear as to whether, at the end of the war,
we are going to create a new world order or a
new European order. On this differentiation lies
the crux of the whole problem. Furthermore, as
one of the critics in the discussion Forum has pointed

SPEECH AT NA GPUR SERVANTS OF INDIA SOCIETY 41

out, it is not sufficient to formulate only a declaration
of the rights of man. Professor John Ryle insists
upon a declaration also of the duties of man.

In November 1939, the Chinese Ambassador
to the United States, broadcast a speech on the subject
of “ The Family of Nations ” from which may be
quoted a pregnant observation as a fitting conclusion
to this discourse. Dr. Hu Shin said : — “ The future
world government should be sup&rfederation of some
such regional set-ups as the League of Europe, the
Conference of American States, the British Com-
monwealth, the Conference of Pacific States, the Con-
ference of Western and South-Western Asiatic States^
etc. A world state of regional federations and con-
federacies with , definite and precise commitments
according to the graded responsibilities of the states
or groups of states that is the formula which I wish
to recommend to the serious reflection of all
dreamers of a better and more workable world order.’*

Contribution to the “ Statesman ” on
Danger Ahead ”

May 1941

It is six months since I returned to India,
after an absence of twelve years spent in travel and
study of foreign countries. I also had one year’s
experience of the war in England.

Since landing in Cochin, the newest harbour
in India, I have travelled right up North, visiting
many places. What struck me most, was the
absolute unpreparedness in India in regard to her
defence, and a general indifference to the possible
dangers which have grown from day to day to which
India is exposed. I have also watched recent
developments as regards the political situation, and
realize, like many of my countrymen, the serious
consequences of the political deadlock. Only to-day
I saw a pregnant pronouncement of policy by the
Premier of the Punjab, Sir Sikander Hyat Khan,
which has constantly been in my mind. He says. “The
country does not realize the danger with which it
is threatened today. My suggestion is that all of
us should put politics aside and get together for
effective defence of India.”

I belong to no party, and have no communal
bias. As one who can fairly claim a detached view
of the situation from an outside angle, may I be
permitted to give expression to certain views ?

'‘STATESMAN" ON " DANGER AHEAD" 43

As things have gone during the past 18 months,
Europe has, in the wake of Nazi conquests, laid the
foundation of gunpowder magazines in every country,
I cannot, with any show of reason, believe that the
war will end soon. Furthermore, whichever side
wins in particular spheres of conflict, the war is bound
to spread. Such being the case, is India going to be
hung up in the balance indefinitely with the promise
of a new and better constitution. Dominion Status,
Pakistan, Independence, or whatever other name
given from different party points of view ? India
cannot be expected to give wholeheartedly towards
war effort, for an indefinite number of years, wait-
ing for final victory, through the ups and downs
of a long world war, for the due fulfilment of British
pledges of the past, and the urgent demands of the
present changed situation.

Sir Sikander says that all parties and interests
should reach a convention, under which they should
devote their entire attention and energy to the
successful prosecution of the war. and securing the
effective defence of India.

I for one very strongly feel that it is not easy
to bridge the gulf that divides the Congress and the
Moslem League, or to expect these and other
differences to be settled, without a new gesture by the
British Government. There is at present no power
in the land to stop poisonous propaganda that is
being spread to obscure the main issue today, the

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defence of India. A temporary constitutional change
only at the Centre to deal with this issue will I fear
not work, nor stop further political controversies.

Moreover, the practical working of an All-
India Defence Executive bristles with diflRculties.
India has to be defended at many points, her land
routes, frontiers, and thousands of miles of sea-
front, harbours, and anchorages all have to be
guarded against invasion. Soldiers of the North
will have no adequate incentive to defend the South,
and vice, versa. The Indian States may be victims
of aggression and attack from the air, specially
those situated as Travancore, Cochin, the Kathia-
war States. One national Indian army consisting
of units representing different races and territorial
attachments will be hard to organize eflRciently.

I should be inclined to vest the responsibility
of regional defence in separate administrative units,
which may in future be independent or sovereign
States. Let all the British Provinces be given full
autonomy for defence purposes, and raise their own
armies from their own people. Let the Central
Government be responsible for transportation, com-
munication, harbours, trunk railways, wireless
stations, posts and telegraphs, etc. The All-India
Navy and All-India Air Force should also be under
its control, maintained by a levy or contribution
from the Provinces and States. Once the respon-
sibility of defence is transferred thus, subject to the

“ STA TESMAN ” ON “ DANGER AHEAD ” 46

above reservations, the Provinces and States become
politically independent. They should be given full
Dominion Status and form a union for the whole
of India like the Union of South Africa or the Fe-
deral Union of Australia and Canada. To put it
in another way, the whole of India should be con-
stituted into a League of Nations, with an inter-
national army or police force, to be used for a common
purpose, and an Equity Tribunal to settle inter-pro-
vincial and inter-statal disputes.

The fear that Pakistan, Dravidistan and other
schemes for the readjustment of India on a linguistic
or cultural basis stands in the way of a united India,
overlooks the realities of the present situation. It
is easy to visualize the prospect of India being divided
into smaller kingdoms and states, based on racial,
linguistic, or cultural differences and yet forming
a union. The example of Soviet Russia including
within itself the various Republics, internally inde-
pendent and yet allied to the Central Government
of Moscow, will certainly not be an isolated one
in the history of political evolution, and can easily
be applied to the conditions of India.

Each province may now be invited to hold a
Round Table Conference to carry out this plan, to
enlarge its franchise and establish without delay
a Parliament with full Dominion Status. Hindu-
Moslem differences and the problem of minorities
under such a constitution will settle themselves

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according to local conditions. The leaders of each
Province including the Premiers of the late Congress
Governments may work up the whole scheme^
representation being on adult franchise and the
population basis. The scheme of Pakistan can very
well fit in, as may similar other schemes for terri-
torial re-distribution likely to be put forward.

The Indian States in their own self-interest should
federate at once, independently of the Provinces, and
be a part of the Union of India. If they choose
to remain as they are. why should British India,
as a whole, stand still ?

Letter to the “ Times of India ” on
“ Arms for Civic Guards ”

May 1941

The other day, addressing the Indian Merchants’
Chamber in Bombay, Mr. J. C. Setalvad said that
even though the Cripps Mission has failed, the
work of defending the country should go on un-
impeded, and that the work would be facilitated by
the withdrawal of the existing restrictions on the use
of arms by the public.

I believe that the National War Front would
achieve tangible results in its fight to improve the
morale of the people, if the organisation of Civic
Guards all over the country is speeded up and they
are supplied with arms. The withdrawal of res-
trictions under the Arms Act will no doubt be a bold
gesture on the part of Government, but there are
two difficulties. Firstly, evidence is not lacking to
show that issue of arms to the public may aggravate
the danger which the Sind Government recently had
to face. It was found necessary to suspend arms
licences in certain localities in that province as a
sequel to dacoities. Secondly, it is well known that
there are no spare arms available at present and even
if otherwise a dasirable move, the issue of arms as
a measure of defence or guerrilla warfare would
not be practicable just now. Yet it cannot be gain-
said that public morale would improve if something

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could be done immediately to arm the Civic Guards,
Thereby panic, lawlessness and disorder would
receive some check.

I venture to suggest that all arms in private
possession could be made use of for this purpose.
All that is required is to make a census of all such
arms and to collect them for distribution to the
Civic Guards under the Defence Regulations.

When the supply of arms to the growing Indian
army is adequate and there is a surplus, the strength
of the armed Civic Guards should be largely increased
and the co-operation of the public secured all over
the country. This would mean a radical change
in the administration of the Arms Act, resulting in
the supply of arms to the civilian population who
take a responsible part in the defence of the country.

Military operations" may be seriously hampered
by the large-scale evacuation of people from one
part of the country to another. The incidents of
Vizagapatam should be an eye-opener as to what
may happen in a country with an unarmed population
which is an easy victim to panic, lawlessness and
dacoities. The suggestion made above seems to be
the quickest solution.

Speech before the Rotary Club, Dehra Dun, on

“ The World Crisis and the Future of India ”

July 1941

I fear I have chosen rather an ambitious title
for my address this afternoon specially at a gathering
like this, at which the Dehra Dun Rotarians are
meeting at Tea. You will realise that the subject
is too vast to be adequately dealt with in a twenty
minutes talk. However, I shall attempt to put
before you some ideas that may go on rotating in
your minds in these critical times.

The subject is ' partly controversial and partly
a matter of speculation. That there is a world
crisis, does any one deny ? I think not. Do all
nations and countries, however, realise its force ?
It is spreading over the globe like a typhoon bring-
ing chaos in the economic and social life of nations
and death and destruction everywhere. Some think
it had to come, and others that it was avoidable.
We, in India, know little of its origin which can be
traced to the post-war conditions in Europe since
1918. In India we are accustomed to take many
things for granted under British protection. Further-
more, we have been too much pre-occupied with our
own constitutional problems and political differences.

The world crisis has ultimately manifested it-
self in Hitlerism, which paramountly stands for
world domination through brute force, but, that is

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not the only symptom or cause. The disease is in the
social, economic and political condition of most
Europeon countries, England included. Unexpected
developments, almost incredible, have taken place
suddenly since the war broke out in September 1939.
The invasion of Poland by Germany and U. S. S. R.
and Finland by Russia, the gradual Soviet absorption
of the Baltic States and their change over to Nazi domi-
nation, the non -aggression pact between Russia and
Germany and its subsequent abrogation, the sudden
invasion of the lowlying countries of Belgium,
Denmark, Holland, the occupation of Norway, the
collapse of France and the Vichy armistice, the
entry of Italy into the war as the hurch-back of
Germany, the German thrust into the Balkans, the
spread of influence over Bulgaria and Rumania,
the conquest of Albany, Greece. Crete, all these
followed in quick succession and brought about
many disappointments and tragedies, that befell the
allied armies. It will be a question for the future
Historian to anwser, how far all these can be attri-
buted to Hitler and his ambitions to establish a Pan-
German Europe or there is something deeper, that
has caused these volcanic eruptions. If Hitler
dies tomorrow does any one think that Germany
will collapse ? I wish you will all read that
striking book Reaching for the Stars by Nora Wain,
which attempts to solve the psychological riddle of
Nazi Germany which has corrupted the whole

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, DEHRA DUN 61

German Nation. National socialism has promised so
many things for the nations of Europe.

Thus we see that the democracies of Europe
have crumbled to earth, and England alone stands
to fight for it, and for her own existence with de-
fiance and determination, supported by her Domi-
nions and Colonies and last but not least, India.
Russia the latest victim of Nazi aggression, though
one of the co-aggressors with Germany in the earlier
stages of the war, and till now viewed with distrust
and suspicion, is our new ally. Such are the ironies
and incongruities of fate.

These, however, are as already indicated, the
outward symptoms of the world crisis. The on-
slaught against European civilization has come from
within itself, and who knows that future years may
witness a grim conflict between Europe and Asia.
Thus, the crisis may spread and continue for more
than one generation. In fact, it has already spread
to the Middle East, and Asia is the next stage. The.
Battle of the Atlantic is in progress, the U.S.A.,
Central and South America are in danger. Both
sides of the Pacific are throbbing under its menace.
We in India are not very far from being engulfed
by it.

Turning to the events of recent years, we find
that the post-war problems during the past two
decades have baffled the statesman of every country.
Great Britain slept in peaceful slumber of security.

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and steadily pursued the noble ideals of disarma-
ment, apparently with no knowledge of seven years
of grim German war preparations. Baldwin’s
Government in spite of repeated warnings of the
present Prime Minister did not wake up to the
realities of the situation. England became weaker
in strength and in prestige. Each country in Europe
became a water-tight compartment, industry and
commerce declined and the unemployment increased.
Exchange of money restrictions including the re-
striction against free travel amongst nations, caused
a considerable obstacle to world commerce.
Germany in the meantime having withdrawn from the
League of Nations openly defied every article of the
Versailles Treaty, however unjust some of its pro-
visions might have been, reannexed some of her
adjacent territories without anyone to question her.
Taking advantage of Chamberlain’s policy of ap-
fieasement, Hitler began to muster her armed strength,
and set in motion his mighty military machine, for
the conquest of Europe, the political and economic
conditions of most European countries then being in
a hopelessly rotten condition. England was the
only thorn by his side, and the Battle of Britain and
the Battle of the Atlantic were waged against her
with ruthless violence with the hope of crushing
her undaunted spirit. Outside Germany, is anyone
in doubt as regards the final outcome of this
struggle ?

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, DEHRA DUN 63

Great thinkers have busied themselves during
the past two years in discussing the new World
Order, but can any one tell how things are going to
shape themselves when peace comes ? Discussions
have proceeded mostly on academic lines. France
still hopes to preserve her Empire, in spite of her
collapse, and England has yet to declare her peace
aims if victory is won, and the manner in which she
is going to re-adjust her empire relations and
especially her relations with India. Indian leaders
still charge her with Imperialism and look askance
at the declarations of war aims and peace aims by
British politicians including the late Mr. Chamber-
lain, who confined themselves to a new European
order, leaving the rest of the world severely alone,
and India specially, thus forgetting that the crisis is
a world crisis and not a European crisis.

It is necessary to realise that the crisis world-
wide, as it is bound to be at the end of the war even
when peace is declared, will bring about a complete
change of outlook, in regard to Imperialism and the
struggle between Capitalism and Labour. It will
raise questions of supreme importance as regards
status, rights and obligations of these nations who
have and those who have not ; in other words,
the equitable distribution of the world’s good things
and the utilisation of the world’s natural resources
for the benefit of mankind. A complete change
in the modern system of labour, exchange, currency

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and international monetary relations, the establish-
ment of an effective world leadership in the place of
the League of Nations now dead, must come about.
If this war is a war against the enemies of democracy,
and to uphold the rights of man, liberty of thought
and justice as between nations, then surely India
has something to say in the matter.

How does India stand in this crisis today ?
There is a political deadlock in the country which
every section of public opinion both in India and
in England regrets. Several thousands of educated
men and women who are followers of the largest
organised political party in the country, are
in prison. India’s war effort, nevertheless, is a
source of pride to this country in spite of murmurs:
of discontent here and there, and a matter of
gratification to the English people. Do you know
the commodities besides money and war materials
that are being contributed by India to England’s
war effort? You will be surprised perhaps to hear
that even matches can be included in the list.

What is England doing towards India in regard
to her future is the next question that demands an
answer. The position is one of great difficulty,
both for India and Great Britain I admit, and he
that can suggest a way out will be the wisest man of
this generation. While I wish to avoid all political
controversies, I still maintain that India’s cause
deserves far greater statesmanship on the part of

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, DEHRA DUN 66

Great Britain than has hitherto been in evidence.
I also maintain that India holds the key position in
the world for the solution of many of its present
and future difficulties; in fact, she holds the key to
the world peace, if she remains as a contented member
of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and not
as disgrunted dependency still subject to the policy
of domination. Her man-power organised on a
national basis and her natural resources are almost
unlimited. Great Britain and India linked together
in bonds of common friendship on equal terms can
almost defy any country in Europe and Asia. The
great soldier. Sir Ian Hamilton, speaking on the
military possibilities of a free India, long ago said,
“How can England hope to retain under the British
crown her vast Empire permanently unless Indians
are in exactly the same position of independence as
Canadians and Australians today occupy?”

In one of my speeches delivered at the Rotary
Club, Detroit, U.S.A., four years ago, I said,
“India, autonomous and self-governing within the
British Empire, will act as a bulwark against the
Pan-Asiatic movement led by Japan, make peace
with Pan-Islamism of western Asia, and thus help
to stabilise Europe.”

In the future, India’s contribution to the New
World Order will not be negligible and I am sure
she is going to play her part nobly in this respect,
if she is given the freedom to do so. Differences

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there must be. What country has not ? Even England
for that matter.

The first requisite is no doubt general unity
and concord within, and the second, full and com-
plete surrender of control, internal and external,
and the transfer of real power of governing to the
Indian peoples by Great Britain. This is a big
question and cannot be discussed in a few words;
but it is quite possible that the first may follow the
second. The task imposed upon us by Great
Britain’s present Indian policy of first settling our
differences within is, I fear, not a very practicable one
just now, and may be characterised by future his-
torians as not a bonafide one either. Why cannot
Great Britain now place all her cards on the table
and not wait till the end of war as she did in 1917,
when she made the famous pledge declaring the
Dominion Status as our goal, and make an advance
by way of a further declaration. Nearly a quarter
of century is indeed long enough to wait.
If she does so, I am sure India will come to h.el no
matter how many years the present war continues,
and I firmly believe she will secure for herself in no
distance of time, the most honourable and almost the
first place amongst the Dominions in the British
Commonwealth of Nations. It is too dreadful to
think how the Indian situation will develop further,
whether there is war or .whether there is peace, if
the best brains and the best minds of the two

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, DEHRA DUN 57

countries, right now, do not collaborate to bring
about lasting settlement. Temporary war measures are
short-sighted. Defence Advisory Conamittees with
no real power are of no use. A long view is needed
and it is as much the duty of India as well as of
Great Britain to turn the pivot of their angle of
vision. This may bring the war to a close sooner
than expected. Failing this, the war will, I fear,
last a generation and embroil both Europe and Asia,
God forbid that this should happen.

Letter to the Associated Press on the
Death of Lord Willingdon
August 1941

Now that the rush of personal tributes to the
late Lord Willingdon to the press all over the country
has almost spent itself, and Indians of eminence and
high political status have paid their last homage,
to the great Indian Viceroy and Empire statesman
in eloquent words of personal regard and admiration.
I feel, as one who was in no way connected with
Lord Willingdon’s Government though an I.C.S.
man — during his years of Governorship of Madras
and Viceroyalty of India, that I should say something
interesting by way of recollection of this great
Englishman, whom I had the privilege of knowing
as a friend from the time he was Governor of Madras
till his death.

My contact with Lord Willingdon commenced
as Dewan of Mysore both in social and official planes.
In the whole of my experience I never met an English-
man who had the uncommon gift of looking at two
sides of the question. It was his personal influence
that brought about a fifty years agreement between
Mysore and Madras Governments over the Cauvery
dispute, which till it was referred back by the Secre-
tary of State for India after reopening it by cancella-
tion of a final award, hung fire for 12 years. Lord

LETTER TO ASSOCIATED PRESS OF INDIA 59

Willingdon was determined to end it amicably out
of court, as it were, and succeeded in doing so to
the satisfaction of both parties entirely by persuasive
and practical statesmanship.

On the eve of his departure from England to
assume Viceroyalty, Lord Willingdon asked me to
go and see him. We had an informal talk about
the Indian situation. My recollection which I have
since verified from my diary is that he was in great
distress at the possibility of having to govern and
put Law and Order as his first duty. I was then
reminded of Lord Morley’s Maxim “ Martial Law
and no damned nonsense ”. I was a bit perturbed.
Amidst all the chorus of praise we have recently
heard, Indian opinion is naturally critical about his
repressive measures. It is just and meet that we
leave that to the judgment of history.

At the London interview I made a suggestion
to him to appoint a non-olficial Indian as an addi-
tional Private Secretary. He liked the idea and
wrote on the 7th of March 1931 from his London
residence as follows: —

“ The question of an Indian Private Secre-
tary has been in my mind but I can’t in the
changing scene in India make up that mind until
I have got out there and had a look round.”
Nearly 18 months later in a private letter
from Viceregal Lodge, Simla, he wrote as
follows : —

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“ Here I am sorry to tell you that things
are not encouraging at the moment. The nearer
the Indian gets to responsibility the more does
he seem to want to put difficulties in the way
of our getting there. The Sapru trouble ought
easily to have been settled by discussion but
they all went ‘ Off the deep end ’ in a hurry,
and have made it far more difficult to restore
the situation. And the tragedy of it is that those
who are now non-co-operating are nearly all
my old friends in Bombay and Madras.

“ And the communal difficulty too which
they would not settle themselves and forced us
to decide for them is now likely to create storms
in many parts of India, and it really is their own
fault. The only thing to be done at this juncture
is not to lose one’s head, and if one could only
get support for us in our efforts instead of floods
of criticism I should be happier, for we are
really doing our best. Let us hope the clouds
will clear away before long.”

Does the above extract show weakness or an
internal struggle of a great mind to do his duty ?
We must leave the true answer again to history.

In conclusion, I may say without reserve that
Lord Willingdon’s strength mostly lay in fighting
vested interests, and thus often creating enemies.
He was the best exponent of the British character of
playing the game fairly. In social relations he was

LETTER TO ASSOCIATED PRESS OF INDIA 61

entirely free from racial prejudice and eager to show
by precept and example that British prestige does not
suffer, on the other hand is enhanced by friendly
intercourse with Indians irrespective of caste, creed
or community on a basis of absolute equality.

Speech on the Second Anniversary of the War
given at a Public Meeting in Dehra Dun
September 1941

It may seem odd that we are gathered here this
afternoon to recall Britain’s entry into the war against
Hitler two years ago, and to put it in ordinary
language, to celebrate the Second Anniversary. During
the last twenty-four hours, we have listened to
many pronouncements by responsible statesmen in
England, reviewing the progress of the war during this
period, and comparing the position of England today
with what it was in September 1939. For us in India,
too much preoccupied with our internal controver-
sies, and till now far away from the scene of opera-
tions, it is naturally difficult to visualise in their true
perspective, what changes have taken place in Europe
during the past twenty-four months, and what further
developments are likely to take place in the near
future in the struggle against Hitlerism, which Great
Britain and her allies are now engaged in.

This is I think a suitable opportunity for India
to take stock of her position. When the Congress
Ministers were in power in the majority of the
British Provinces in the country, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru in a letter to the News-Chronich^ of London
made the following declaration :

“ To India with her thirst for freedom and
horror of war and violence, this question is of

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING IN DEHRA DUN 63

paramount importance. She has reacted
strongly against the philosophy and methods of
Fascism and Nazi aggression and brutality, and
has seen in them the negation of all she stands
for. World peace' for her means Freedom and
Democracy and the ending of the domination of

one nation over another India will therefore

gladly throw in her resources for a new order
of peace and freedom.”. . . .

If all India re-emphasises these principles in one
united voice, I strongly feel that it would be well for
her future. From that time till now we are having
constant controversies, as between various sections of
Indian public opinion, and the three parties — ^The
Congress, The All-India Moslem League and the
All-India Hindu League, as regards the intentions of
Great Britain towards India and her future consti-
tution. It serves no useful purpose to indulge in a
retrospect of all that has transpired, but it has to be
admitted that commencing from the political dead-
lock, consequent upon the withdrawal of the Congress
Ministers, the situation has not improved, and there
is a wider gulf today, than there was before bet-
ween the policy of the organised parties, than the
people of this country realise.

Leaving for the moment our internal difficulties,
let us turn our minds to the birth, so to speak, of
the Nazi Monster of aggression early in September
1939, who suddenly sprang upon Poland to start

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his mad career. From that time to now, the Monster
has grown in strength and brutality, and the war
he is raging has now come to the very doors of India.
One would have hoped that the progress of the war
would persuade the people of this country to close
up their ranks and pay undivided attention to the
problem of resisting Hitlerism and organising effect-
ive defence of India. All the appeals that have
been so far made in, and outside India to the people
of this country to forget their communal difference,
have so far fallen on deaf ears and I am not pre-
sumptuous enough to suppose that whatever I may
say today will have any different result. There are
better spokesmen than myself who recently in the
past, and who probably at this very hour are voicing
their sentiments for the imperative necessity of
changing the whole Indian outlook to produce in
collaboration with Great Britain a much more united
war effort. No one can deny that we have become
vulnerable. Cannot anything be done to remove
those obstacles that are unfortunately in the way of
bringing all the peoples of India together at this hour
of danger? In the first place, I appeal to Great
Britain not to rigidly adhere to the declaration made
through our Viceroy just over a year ago, but to make
a fresh gesture. They have surely found that a mere
promise of Dominion Status, and a reopening of the
constitutional discussions at the end of the war have
proved inadequate. Soon after that declaration was

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING IN DEHRA DUN 65

made, I published a pamphlet in England “ Looking
Ahead in War Time ”, in which there is an article
India and the War Here is an extract :

“ The British Government have made a
gesture promising Dominion Status. They may,
however, go a bit further, for the Indian public
now has little faith in British pledges, and make
suitable changes in the present government of
India and pass an emergency measure in Parlia-
ment changing the bureaucratic form of govern-
ment in the centre by the introduction of res-
ponsible government for a strong National
Executive, fit to undertake the responsibilities of
National defence. Such an additional gesture
may ease the situation as regards the communal
problem. My suggestion is that full co-opera-
tion in the war with the allies will be forth-
coming if the Constitution question is, as it must
be, left alone, and the British Government decree
that Provinces, States and minorities be grouped
together on the population basis, fixing a mini-
mum of say 50 million, each having their right
to elect their leader who will then automatically
find a place in the Central Cabinet.”

Since then a National Executive has been formed
by the appointment of eight Indians to the Viceroy’s
Executive Council. No one can deny that this is a
great advance over the previous policy. But what
have Indians done to make a similar advance with
3

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reference to their own rigid attitude when these
controversies began. Have they tried to meet the
British Government even half way ? This is a questioli
which demands serious consideration. Whether it is
possible to make a further advance in British policy
at the present juncture is a question of some difficulty,
but I do believe that it is possible right now, to lay the
foundation for a “ Union of India ”, or in other
words, include India in any scheme for a New World
Order and to clarify the position so far this country
is concerned in the now famous, historic and joint
declaration of Roosevelt and Churchill. Major
Atlee’s amplification of this is no doubt hopeful, but
is it authoritative ? When he says, it is applicable as
much to the peoples of Asia and Africa as to those of
Europe. Great Britain therefore, on her own res-
ponsibility, should make this point clear, and take
some steps towards the formation of a Union of India
on a dominion basis starting discussions if necessary,
during the war, as was done in 1917. She should
guard against the creation of another Ulster in India.
The Irish example ought to be a warning. It is
either union or separation, and disunion for ever.
If India’s future hangs in the balance throughout the
duration of the war, there will be unsurmountable
obstacles in the way of a peaceful settlement later.

As regards the possibilities of bringing about
an improvement in the internal political condition of
the country,' is it difficult for the three great parties—

SPEECH A T PUBLIC MEETING A T DEHRA DUN 67

the Congress, the All-India Moslem League and the
All-India Hindu League to come to a gentleman’s
agreement, to stop all further propaganda, suspend
all meetings and allow their members full freedom
of action, without incurring disciplinary action by
their leaders. I wish Indians could realise the true
war situation to-day. I quote from the most recent

speech of Mr. Roosevelt on this point

He said:

“ I give a solemn warning to those who
think that Hitler has been blocked and halted
that they are making a very dangerous assump-
tion. When in any war your enemy seems to be
making less progress than he did the year before
that is the very moment to strike with re-
doubled force ”.

“ The task of defeating Hitler may be long
and arduous. There are a few appeasers and
Nazi sympathizers who say it cannot be done.
They even ask me to negotiate with Hitler — to
pray for crumbs from his victorious table. They
do in fact ask me to become a modern Benedict
Arnold and betray all I hold dear, my devo-
tion to our freedom, to our churches, to our
country. This course I have rejected. I reject it
again. Instead I know I speak for the conscience
and determination of the American people, when
I say we shall do everything in our power to crush
Hitler and his Nazi forces.” ....

68 THROUGH 'AN INDIAN CAMERA

Only last night, did we not hear on the Wireless,
that even in England there are people in every grade
of society, who are not quite sure what we are fighting
for? We are fighting for our very existence, especially
now, and we are fighting for those very principles,
which are so forcibly emphasised in Jawaharlal
Nehru’s eloquent pronouncement already quoted.
Leaving Government alone for the present, what
is our duty ? I think they come under the following
three heads....

(1) Mobilising all available man-power for the
defence of India.

(2) Industrialisation of the country on a perma-
nent basis, thus to provide immediately the means
of polling the possibilities of our resources in every
province and state, by non-official co-operation of
capital and labour separating economic developments
from politics, and thus lay the foundation of a perma-
nent economic policy in India as a whole, on a
comprehensive basis instead of taking up schemes
here and there in a piece-meal fashion.

(3) Organise immediately for home defence
through non-official initiative and consultation. Civic
Guard volunteers on a gigantic scale, who will give
part of their spare time and energy to defend strategic
points in their areas, as was done in England in
1940, when the Island was threatened by invasion.

If we are determined to five as a free nation or a
group of nations now that the war is entering on its

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING IN DEHRA DUN 69

third year, we should resolve to throw into the
struggle all our yet untapped resources, and our
full man-power thereby, increasing India’s whole-
hearted war effort with unreserved co-operation with
Great Britain.

In conclusion, let me appeal to one and all
present here to-day. Firstly, to realise the grave
danger that confronts us. Secondly, to make every
possible sacrifice in our power that will lead Great
Britain and her allies to victory, with a Capital V.

Broadcast Speech at Lucknow on
Planned Living ”

October 1941

Planned living is a subject which can be ap-
proached from two different points of view. One
affecting the individual in his relations with his
fellow-beings, and the other affecting people in
groups in villages, towns and cities. The former is
too vast a subject to deal with, specially in relation
to India where no two individuals taken at random
belong to the same standard of living, have the
same manner of food, speech or dress, or follow
similar customs as regards their domestic habits.
I shall, therefore, deal with the second aspect and give
some ideas as to how planned living can be taken up
as a practical proposition, in this country as a whole.

European Conditions

In European countries problems confronting
us in India do not arise, for there is a certain amount
of standardisation in the living conditions of the
people, even amongst those who follow different
religions and come from a different racial stock.
Though planned living is not so important, even
there it is given constant attention. In America
every big city such as Chicago is almost rebuilt every
ten years to suit changed conditions. Davis, the then
Labour Minister, told me in 1926 that England

SPEECH AT L UCKNO W RADIO STA TIOH 71

being conservative, preserved old towns for tradition’s
sake ; hence there was unemployment. Even in con-
servative England there is a new movement of planned
living. Have you heard of the Ideal Home Exhibition
in London, held every year till war broke out, show-
ing full sized model dwellings to suit all pockets,
model kitchens and bathrooms, alas ! so often
neglected ?

In India

Coming now nearer home, there is no country
in the world as India, where there is absence of
planned living in most things to adapt modes of
living to the environment which is constantly
changing. It seems almost a paradox that every-
thing seems to be planned for us by our social
customs often founded by religious sanctions, in-
terdicting certain ways of living and enjoining certain
others. Hindus are entirely governed from their
birth by th<.ir caste regulations and thereafter by their
external environment. Other communities, such as
Moslems, Parsees, Sikhs, Jains and Jews in lesser
degree are also governed by their religious or commu-
nal laws of living, most of which are specially suited
to their respective culture and tradition. From
this point of view there is, in fact, too much planned
living in most things in this country, in which the
individual does not come in except in so far as he
belongs to a group.

72 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Taking living conditions first, caste rules
amongst the Hindus prescribe grouping together in
one locality or street in the village, different castes
following different trades and professions from the
highest caste Brahmins downwards. The lowest
orders accustomed to do menial work have been
segregated outside its limits. This tendency of
mutually exclusive habitations, is deep-rooted and
is prevalent, as we all know, amongst practically
all castes and communities in a greater or lesser
degree. Dwelling houses, bathing and other
arrangements follow domestic customs and habits.
Food is also primarily governed by habits of caste
or community based on religious injunctions; as
for example, vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet.
The diet of the Punjabi is totally different from the
diet of the Madrasi, or the Bengali. Customs
prevailing at child-birth, puberty, marriage and
funerals vary according to the social regulations
of each group. The individual has not the free-
dom therefore to choose his own plan of living even
in matters of dress. The abject poverty of the
masses has a great deal to do in limiting the necessi-
ties of life to the barest minimum.

Limited Scope

Thus we see that there is a limited scope for
planned living in the case of the individual who
constitutes part of a particular group or community.

SPEECH AT L UCKNO W PA DIO STA TlOH 73

caste and sub-caste. Each has to follow the plan
set out for him by the rigid system of his own group
to which he belongs. Amongst the millions stricken
with poverty there is little outside influence or effort
to help them out of their present depressed condi-
tions. Any plan to improve their living is beset
with many difficulties. From my own personal
experience I can give three specific instances. About
40 years ago, an attempt I made for establishing a
model town in the headquarters of the district I
served met with severe opposition from the high
caste Hindus, as the plan provided for huts for the
depressed classes who were given sanitary dwellings
on the site allotted to them. The Government of
H. H. the late Maharaja of Mysore opened all
schools to the depressed classes. The higher castes
boycotted the schools and withdrew their children.
This opposition was also overcome in six months’
time. About the same time the sweepers of the city
of Mysore were removed from their old sites and
given model huts. The poor sweepers left the place
after a week complaining that the huts had too much
light and air. This opposition was also overcome by
cajoling and coaxing and they were brought back.

Lack of Co-ordination

Amongst the educated and enlightened, great
and fundamental changes are taking place in their
outlook and mode of living. Individual freedom

F

74

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is asserting itself even in matters of social life, such
as marriage. Plans for rural re-construction, drive
against illiteracy, organisations for social service and
uplift are in evidence in the national life of the country.

In all these movements, however, collective
and co-ordinated action is lacking owing to the in-
herent difficulties of our social and religious system
in which we live.

Five-Year Plan

To my mind, in order to introduce planned
living, it is necessary in the first place to raise the
standard of education amongst the masses and also
raise their standard of living. What cannot be achieved
by propaganda and social service can be brought
about by cautious legislation which will appeal to
the leaders of all sects and communities, specially
in matters of physical well-being and economic
uplift. In regard to the first, a great deal is being
done. Research in matters of diet and malnutri-
tion is being conducted. Physical culture is en-
couraged in various forms. The governments of
provinces in British India and of many Indian states
have many schemes in hand for village improve-
ment and better living conditions, but the progress
is slow. What I would advocate is the preparation
of a five-year plan for every province, state, district,
and tehsil, covering every field, to improve the
physical, material and moral condition of the

SPEECH AT LUCKNOW RADIO STATION 75

people* But no scheme of planned living amongst
people in groups can be successful without finance.
A larger share of the resources of each administrative
unit may have to be earmarked for such a purpose.

To safeguard against unprofitable spend-
ing in respect of all schemes for planned living
amongst groups of people, it is necessary to secure
the services of qualified experts with detailed know-
ledge of local conditions as regards requirements
of sanitary dwellings, prevention of diseases, eco-
nomic development and universal education. In
these fields the government everywhere in India can
do much, but not all. Much depends on self-help and
reform from within. Moreover, my experience
tells me that without the spread of education and
propaganda by local authorities in India, the poor
people will not take advantage of plans for better
living, however well-meant they may be.

The Environment

We are sometimes inclined to make the mistake
in all these endeavours of planned living, of igno-
ring the environment such as climate, landscape
and our neighbours. All our designs have to be
drawn up, suited to the locality and within the means
of local inhabitants ; and for this the services of spe-
cialised architects, social workers and education-
ists are necessary. An expensive elementary school
building standing out amongst village dwelling

76 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

huts built with mud and bamboo would be out of
place; and so would be a building of Saracenic
architecture in a Hindu village.

Government policy in the past, though sym-
pathetic, has been hampered by the apprehension
lest religious scruples of the people might be
offended by what may be regarded as external inter-
ference. But I feel that as the Indian people them-
selves are becoming more advanced and more
responsive to reform, now is the opportunity for
systematic effort in the domain of planned living,
be it sanitation, better housing, laws against food
adulteration, prevention of epidemics and many other
evils from which the people of this country suffer.

Live and Let Live

Lastly, in any scheme of planned living, live
and let live should be the motto. The various
communities should be brought up to the idea of
harmony and peace. Then only can there be a
three-fold development of body, mind and spirit,
through which we shall reach the height of mundane
perfection within the limits of our own special
environments.

Speech before the Rotary Club, Asansol
on “ Russia ”

December 1941

The journey to Russia was an interesting expe-
rience. I included that country in my tour after
having visited Scandinavia and Finland, I travelled
by a night train from Helsinkhi to the Russian border
where I expected there would be some commotion
owing to change of trains and passing from one
frontier to another. I was told that yVe should have
to carry our own baggage for customs examination
and the scrutiny of pass-ports would take a long
time. Fortunately however, I was given a letter by
the then Russian Consul in Finland to the Frontier
Customs Officer, and with the help of this letter I
was transferred from one train to another without
any difficulty and my luggage was taken care of by
the Russian Station staff. To my great surprise
however, I found that I was not going by the ordinary
train but was transferred to a special train as a
distinguished visitor in which the President
of the Academy of Sciences in Leningrad was
travelling. We got to Leningrad quite in advance
of the ordinary time-table by this special and Was
put up in a Hotel called Hotel Metropole — ^very
much dilapidated in condition and then I arranged
through the In-Tourist the details of my programme.

78 THROUGH AH INDIAN CAMERA

As time is short for this talk to enable me
to deal with this vast subject, I shall have to con-
dense my remarks to a very great extent. One may
expect to hear from me what Communism has done
for Russia, how far Capitalistic countries Were
justified in treating Bolshevism as a menace, is
Communism ever likely to conquer the world and
lastly, how is it suited to India for the solution of her
economic problems. The first question relates to
the internal history of the revolution, the second and
third both internal and external, and fourth con-
cerns the future of India.

I must confess that the opportunity to travel and
see a vast country like Russia is very limited. There
is always the language difficulty and when one sees
only parts, the picture when joined together seems
disjointed.

My impressions of a two months’ tour undertaken
a decade ago may seem valueless just now. I am
presumptuous in suggesting a talk on this subject
which deals With things long past out of date. Yet,
now that Russia is our ally, it is perhaps not an un-
warranted inference that sooner or later Russia and
Western democracies may join hands against what
stands for Nazism of Germany aiming at world
domination.

Both countries are ruled by Dictators — and
their methods are brutal; with this difference that
Russia aimed at mobilisation of labour for production

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, ASANSOL 79

on a vast scale, in agriculture and industry.
Large number of Germans and Americans v/ere
employed in Russia to develop industries during the
Five-Year Plan. Germany gave brains and Russia
had muscles. It was like training an Elephant to
move with bigger eyes and see things all round. This
German co-operation may have been a very subtle
move on the part of Pan-Germanism, and yet Russia
also soon after the revolution cultivated her friend-
ship with China and made many attempts to lower
British prestige. It is a question whether she
had designs to obtain mastery of Asia. The famous

General Skobeleff said “The stronger Russia

becomes in Central Asia, the weaker will England
become in India, and the more accommodating in
Europe.”

Anyhow, world politics and diplomacy no longer
remain the same since Germany and Russia marched
into Poland simultaneously and became co-aggressors,
and also when Russia started the Russo-Finnish War
in the winter of 1939. To-day she is our ally on
account of German aggression right into the heart
of her vast territories. You may draw any conclu-
sions you like from these quick march of events, and
visualise the New World Order that is in the making
after the cessation of hostilities.

Just right now, Russia is the headline of news
all the world over and attention is rivetted to the
Eastern front. If one can go back ten years and

80 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

take note of what was then going on, one may per-
haps find a few links in the chain of momentous
happenings since the present War broke out.

My talk is however intended to be non-contro-
versial and I wish to give a few impressions of my
visit which are perhaps superficial and may be con-
sidered like those of other visitors, hasty and one-
sided in their conclusions, so please take them for
what they are worth.

I prepared myself for my visit by studying a few
representative books about the economic, political and
social conditions of Russia. They are :

Knickerbocker: ‘Soviet Five-Year Plan.’

Rene-Fulop-Miller : ‘ The Mind and Face of
Bolshevism.’

Loder : ‘ Bolshevism in Perspective.’

Chamberlain : ‘ Soviet Russia.’

O’Flaherty : ‘ I Went to Russia.’

Hindus : ‘ Humanity Uprooted.’

I also met Knickerbocker and Was lucky in
getting a few introductions before leaving Finland.
Relations between England and Russia at that time
Were not favourable for a visit, though Ramsay
MacDonald’s government through Henderson,
Foreign Minister, tried to redeem some of the mis-
takes of British policy Which alienated Russia’s
feeling towards England. This as you know culmi-
nated later With the arrest of many British techni-
cians who Were charged with sabotage and tried.

SPSECff AT ROTARY CLUB, ASANSOL 81

Literature about Russia I found conflicting. Na
two books about Russia agreed. Those of British origin
Were hostile and over-critical. Fear of Communism
spreading in England was the main cause. Propaganda
by Russian refugees from the highest aristocrats to the
poor capitalists Which spread doctrine of hate being
exiles, is another cause of misunderstanding.

My English friends said I would never come
back from Russia and there was really nothing much
to learn from that country. In spite of all the infor-
mation I gained by my study, my visit was an eye-
opener as I learnt at first hand many things which
were contrary to the average British outlook.

First and foremost I learnt that the brutal
methods of Bolshevism which started with the violent
seizure of property at the outbreak of the revolution,
the forcible mobilisation of labour and the abolition
of money Were all means to an end to establish not
a new political creed but a new religion on which a
new system of society could be based and the power
of Government transferred to the Proletariat.

The Five-Year Plan though criticised as a failure
was at least sixty per cent, a success, though not
without tremendous sacrifice on the part of the
people. Russia at that time of my visit absorbed by
industrialisation sixty-five per cent, of her natural
resources, twenty-five per cent, on cultural revolution,
divided into Education and Health services, and only
ten per cent, on administration and defence.

82 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

In one of the journals of VOKS, which was a
Soviet Union Society for cultural relations with foreign
countries, I found the following few sentences:

“ The philosopher Plato was right when

he said that the ‘ chief causes of disagreement
and fighting were private property and Women,’
The revolution removed this cause and at the
same time the equality of woman has had a
very great effect on our life in general. We
must remark this because in the ‘ Woman
Movement ’ of the West, the aim is to benefit
women only and not society in general. Ques-
tions of love, marriage, family, which in the old
world are considered as belonging exclusively
to Woman’s sphere, are with us considered of
equal interest to every member of society without
distinction of sex.”

Forty-two pef cent, of the total number of women
in the country were engaged in the Five-Year Plan
excluding those engaged in building work and social
feeding. Sex does not enter into the question of
woman’s labour at all. Women were free from
domestic slavery and the protection of women Was
entirely in their own hands. Women workers are
given every month three days’ leave and when she is
expected to be confined two months’ holiday.

In the Collective Farms, the position of women
was a little diflBcult. They were anxious about
children and often stole the babies from the creches

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, ASANSOL 85

just as the peasants stole horses aWay from the
collective field.

Amongst personal reminiscences only a feW
may be mentioned. Everywhere I went there were
numerous loudspeakers to gain the ear of the people
no matter what they were doing, at work, or at play,
eating, at the restaurants, or walking along the pave-
ments.

All the museums of pre-revolution Russia have
been carefully preserved, Russian Art and Russian
music is being fostered. The park of leisure in
Moscow for recreation and amusements is one of
the greatest examples of Soviet attempt to improve
the outlook of the people. Community and Factory
kitchens on a gigantic scale, conducted on strict
hygienic principles, also struck me as the most modem
attempt to provide healthy food for the people and
to reduce domestic drudgery. In contrast to the
German method of pride, race and the ideal of pro-
ducing a pure type of Aryans, in Russia there was an
encouragement of mating through natural selection,
and intermingling of races.

The anti-religious museums Were a characteristic
of the Atheism of youth and the policy of govern-
ment to discourage any form of religious worship.
They were full of exaggerated and distorted paintings
and pictures of religious prophets of the world to
prove to the people that religion was the primary
cause of human suffering and animosity.

84 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

The main object of Russian education was the
development of technique, to divest the minds of
prepossessions regarding family life, religious
beliefs and desire for individual gain. My Russin
Communist Guide said, “In old Russia there was
a Church, in new Russia there is the House of
Culture

As regards sanitation and public health, modern
Russia regarded it more from the communistic point
of view. Private baths were not encouraged in resi-
dential houses and apartments. My guide said,
“ I cannot understand why people are so insistent
on having private baths. In Russia we only take
collective baths and never more than once a week,
sometimes once a month.” He added, that though
he had a private bath in his house he never used it.
I witnessed nude bathing in the river just outside
Moscow practised both by men and women though
separated from each other.

In Russia I was told there were 150 nationalities,
80 literary and 7 official languages, and there Were
newspapers in most of them, and in not a few the
alphabet was nationalised.

When I Went to see the castle of Alexandrina
where the last Czar Nicholas and his family
Were arrested, I was struck with the preciseness with
which everything was preserved as they were when
they Were taken away for being murdered. Even
the Czarina’s writing-table and odds and ends.

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, ASANSOL 86

Rasputin’s picture and many other articles Were left
as they were to show how ugly and decadent and
degenerate the life of the Czar and his Consort was.

The most interesting factory I visited round
about Moscow Was the Electric Factory producing
transformers, tractors, electric lamps, etc., with
forty-two per cent, women operatives. The
motto of this factory was “ Communism means
Soviet Power plus Electrification”.

In answer to the four points that arise in the
minds of most people to which I have already
referred I can give my own personal impressions
as follows:

(1) What has Communism done for Russia ?

Ans . — Improvement of the condition of the

peasants, development of natural resources and
industrialisation. Universal education and com-
pulsory abolition of illiteracy. Improvement of the
position of women. Encouragement of literature on
the basis of merit, also of the younger intelligentsia
embued with communistic ideas, encouragement in
the increase of population which was three to four
million per annum with a population of 150 million
as against only million increase, with a popula-
tion of 370 million in the rest of Europe.

(2) How far Capitalistic countries are justified
in treating Bolshevism as a menace ?

Ans . — ^The Russian answer is that they fear
economic conquests. The British Empire, specially

86 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

England, viewed Bolshevism with distrust and sus-
picion, feared Persia and Turkey becoming easy
victims, the extension of Russian influence over
China, specially amongst students, who Were becom-
ing most aggressive. Russia was described as a
European power with interest in Asia, bu hanging
into an Asiatic power with interest in Europe.

(3) Whether Communism is ever likely to
conquer the world.

Ans . — ^The answer is NO in my opinion. A
more rational form of socialism is likely to spread.
The destruction of private property by ruthless
measures is futile. Russia itself is slowly becoming
partly Capitalistic and will adopt the compromise
between the extreme form of capitalism and an
extreme form of socialism.

(4) Is Communism suited to India to solve her
economic problems ?

Ans . — ^The answer to this is also NO. The great
problem of poverty in India cannot be solved by
Communism. She must learn from Russia improve-
ment in agriculture, drive against illiteracy and
industrialisation on a vast scale, to raise the general
standard of living amongst the masses.

In conclusion, what the New World Order will
be as between Socialism, Communism and Fascism,
lies on the laps of the Gods. Dictatorships may
spring up in regional areas be it Asia, Europe or
America. The fate of individual nations and their

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, ASANSOL 87

dependence will hang in the balance unless they
combine into a federation and establish a new kind
of league for common defence, with an effective and
powerful organisation to resist and nip in the bud
aggression from any quarter.

Note. — The World Organisation was framed at
St, Francisco four years later.

Notes on a Scheme of Mr. Manu Subedar
for an Anti-Communal League
1942

The idea of an anti-communal league is an
excellent one, but certain fundamental factors have
to be recognised, specially applicable to India and
these are very vividly described in the leaflet published
as a reprint from the ‘ Blitz ’ — a weekly news maga-^
zine — of Bombay.

The communal spirit is decidedly on the increase
even amongst the major groups of castes and com-
munities in India, although an attempt is being made
by the major groups to form a powerful organisation to
bring together the divergent elements amongst them.
The Moslems consider the Hindu-Moslem tension
as due to economic and not entirely religious causes,
and the communal problem has been mixed up with
the minority problem in regard to constitutional
changes that have been introduced in the past, arid
may come in the future when an agreement is in sight.
One of the great Moslem leaders Went so far as to
say that even in such provinces as Bengal where the
Moslems enjoy a nominal superiority, they are a
minority community for all practical purposes.
Summarising the position on the basis of statistics,
this leader expressed the opinion that the Moslems
are in a hopeless minority in these provinces, while
in the Punjab and Bengal their majority is ineffective.

SCHEME FOR AN ANTI-COMMUNAL LEAGUE 89

As essential safeguards the Moslems have urged
separate electorates, and now we have the scheme of
Pakistan put forward by the All-India Moslem League.
The problem therefore is, how is unity to be established
when there are so many social, political and economic
•considerations, fundamental and deep-rooted, before
any anti-communal propaganda can be started. In
the government of the country, the communal
problem has to be dealt with differently. Any social
reform and much of the propaganda work has to be
done by social reformers within each group. No one
considers the existence of communal feeling in India
as a desirable one, but very few have taken the subject
as a whole — each section dealing with it either from
the political or constitutional or the social point
of view. Without the spread of mass education and
fair play and justice to the whole population of India,
by which distrust and misunderstandings can be
removed, there is no hope that the communal prob-
lem will ever find a solution. If, therefore, a League
is to be established, it must be sponsored by the
leading political thinkers and organisers who have
u large following at present. It cannot be gainsaid
that Mr. Gandhi, the greatest leader in India, after
many attempts made to bring about Hindu-Moslem
Llnity has practically given up the task as hopeless.
Is there any chance now, when we are so sharply
divided to find a selected number of outstanding
public men in the country who can agree and act

90 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

together on a common platform, and also separately,
within their respective groups to bring about a change
in the present unsatisfactory state of affairs ?

The first suggestion that strikes one is, to have
intensive propaganda through leaflets, bulletins, and
a periodical or journal to be published in all the main
languages. Secondly, to entrust the work of active
propaganda to a few public-spirited men who can
go about the country and lecture to the schools,
colleges and other organisations. Thirdly, the
League has to declare its policy in regard to the
burning questions of the day, such as Pakistan,
Liberty or religious belief, marriages amongst the differ-
ent communities, principle of representation in the
Central Legislature, encouragement of backward com-
munities, and lastly, the guarantees of minority popu-
lation irrespective of community or creed. The
League is not likely to be successful unless it declares
its general policy to the public at large on all these
questions.

After attending the meeting which Mr. Manu
Subedar summoned and listening to the discussions
on the rough notes he put forward, I find that prac-
tical action in regard to the movement of the League
is beset with many difficulties. These have first to
be solved as it were, by clearing the deck, for people
belonging to different communities or races or reli-
gions are so imbued with different customs, traditions
and beliefs that common action amongst them is

SCHEME FOR AN ANTI-COMMUNAL LEAGUE 91

almost impossible. As regards the exclusion of
certain matters such as religion, marriage, funeral
ceremonies, all these are really founded on religion
and customs and usages, so each member of the
League will have to be left with full liberty of action
as regards such matters.

Together with religion there are social habits
based on religious sanction such as inter-dining,
taking of water from other castes under which comes
paragraph (1) positive activities, “ Hindu Tea and
Moslem Pani ”. You cannot compel people to give
up their religious scruples and it is better to leave
these scruples untouched for the League will have
to face stern opposition. The League’s activities will
no doubt from the beginning start with educated
people, and we must not attempt to destroy
susceptibilities in regard to the social life of the country,
for then there will be sturdy opposition. What is
required is not an anti-communal league but a
fellowship of religions and religious sects and com-
munities which will bring them together, unless of
course the country throughout by propaganda is
encouraged to give up all religions as in Russia.
Better call it Inter-Communal Fellowship.

The same remark applies to economic activities.
I mean if we are going to interfere with funds for
scholarships or charitable endowments, etc., we
are interfering with individual liberty which always
works for vested interests starting from the family.

92 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

You cannot prevent a father from leaving his pro-
perty to his son, similarly you cannot prevent a rich
man from leaving his fortune for the amelioration
of his own community. Unless you have nationalism
where the State does everything and the private pro-
perty is abolished. We cannot interfere with these
matters. Clubs, social institutions, gymkhanas and
baths should all be nationalised and should be organ-
ised through the State not through private effort,
for as soon as that is allowed to creep in there must
be communalism. Same about restaurants, apart-
ments, building societies, etc.

It is almost an utopian idea that outside religion,
marriage and death, we can have no differences of
any kind to separate the people who are now sharply
divided into different sects and communities. Reli-
gion, marriage, birth anti death comprise the whole
life of the people.

The crux of the whole problem is the necessity
to change the whole situation under which the society
lives now. Where there is capitalism, vested interests,
sharp likes and dislikes, these cannot be destroyed
without a stern hand of a Dictator like Mustafa
Kernel of Turkey or Lenin of Russia.

Speech at a Luncheon Meeting of the Rotary CIub»
Bombay, on “ Union of India — A Suggestion ”
June 1942

Introductory Remarks

The question that is uppermost in the minds ol
all sections of the Indian people and their leaders
is, whether it is possible just now to bring all the
political parties together with a view not only to
meet the emergent situation that has arisen for the
defence of India, but also to discuss proposals for
the future political status of the country. In regard
to the latter, the constitution of the Government ol
India at the centre is receiving the largest share ol
attention.

The Premier of the Punjab, several months ago
stated, that all parties and interests should reach a
convention under which they should devote their
entire attention and energy to the successful prose-
cution of the war and securing the proper defence ol
India. Tt is sad to think that this has not as yet
come about.

During the past several years the claims of mino-
rities and specially the Hindu-Moslem differences
have constantly engaged the minds of our leaders
without a satisfactory settlement being reached,
and now there is a political deadlock. There is also
the battle-cry of Pakistan from the All-India Muslim
League which has aroused bitter opposition of the

94 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Hindu-Mahasabha and other non-Moslem groups.
In other words, the communal tension is acute. The
policy of the Congress since the resignation of their
Ministers has culminated in the Bardoli resolutions
now being discussed with various interpretations by
the Indian public.

Let me go back for a moment to a few political
declarations of Moslem leaders since 1930, to show
how the idea of Pakistan has evolved. More than
a decade ago the Moslem view-point confined itself
chiefly to the protection of the communal interests
of the Moslems, under two main heads, namely: —

(1) Representation by separate electorates.

(2) Representation in the public services.

In 1928 Sir Shafaat Ahmed Khan published
a pamphlet entitled ''’What are the Rights of the
Moslem Minority in India” ? At that time the
Moslems did not conceive the idea of territorial
redistribution and the leading exponents demanded
protection of their minority rights through separate
electorates. They also claimed a certain per-
centage of representation in the All-India and Pro-
vincial cabinets which was then fixed at a mi n i m um
of 3.3%.

The Moslem view-point has Widened very much
since. In 1940 at the Session in Lahore, the All-
India Muslim League, resolved as follows: —

“ Resolved that it is the considered view of

this session of the All-India Muslim League that

95

SPEECH AT ROTAPy CLUB, BOMBA V

no constitutional plan Would be workable in
this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless
it is designated on the following basic principle,
viz., that geographically contiguous units are
demarcated into regions which should be so
constituted with such territorial readjustments
as may be necessary, that the areas in which the
Muslims are numerically a majority as in the
North-Western and Eastern Zones of India,
should be grouped to constitute “ Independent
States ” in which the Constituent Units should
be autonomous and Sovereign.”

I wish to underline the Word Sovereign.

Pakistan conception has evolved from this idea,
and taking by itself is regarded by non-Moslem
groups as a separatist movement, intended to break
up the unity of India as a whole.

I should like to state that in 1939 a remarkable
book Was published by Clarence Streit, under the title
“ Union Now ” in which the writer proposed the
establishment of a federal government by the peoples
of fifteen democracies in Europe and America
including the British Empire. Strangely enough, it
excluded India as not being fit just then to be consi-
dered as a full-fledged democracy.

If such a union had been created and India
included therein with full dominion status, it is doubt-
ful whether Hitler could have had his way in regard
to his lust for world domination.

96 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Countries enjoying full independence have not
been able to retain it or their territorial integrity. In
the New World Order smaller nations even inde-
pendent must come into a Union of this kind as
advocated by Streit, for they are politically helpless,
victims of diplomacy of stronger nations, and often
economically they are starved out of existence.

The object of such a Union would really be;

(1) To gain strength by securing adherence and

allegiance of Weaker neighbours pro-
mising them protection in return.

(2) Combination of States as sovereign states

in a country or group of countries con-
taining many races, creeds, languages, and
cultures, each living in peace and concord
Without any territorial ambitions of
expansion against each other.

(3) Common defence against a common enemy

utilising to the fullest extent material
resources of the whole union, including
its man-power.

The more I think about the matter, the more
I am convinced that the whole sub-continent of
India could be constituted into a union more or
less on the lines of the Union of South Aftica, but
providing adequate safeguards for peace and con-
cord which must entail territorial readjustments.
In other words, India may be developed into not
one Dominion but many in view of distinct racial.

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, BOMBA Y 97

linguistic and religious differences amongst her people
under one federal centre.

The religious cleavage in India is intensified
by the constitution of India into a single State. If
India Were a group of States, the religious factor
would be entirely eliminated from the whole area
with the exception of the United Provinces of Agra
and Oudh and the Punjab. Arrangements could
however be made to deal with the difficulties in
those two provinces. Proper political organisation
will ensure peace. The Government of India is
a British invention. The map of India is a British
creation. Before the British came to India, India
was never formed into a single State. It is the
machinery of the Government of India which renders
British rule in India necessary, because only a foreign
power can hold the differing Indian peoples together
in a single political State.

The solution of the political problem in India
is the substitution of the Enipire of India by a
League of Dominions, Kingdoms and Tribal Lands.
Out of what is known as British India, thirteen
racially and linguistically homogeneous Dominions
could be constituted. Bengal might be made a
Dominion with two autonomous provinces so that
the Hindus would form one province and Moslems
the other. In none of those Dominions would the
Hindu-Moslem question arise.

The predominantly Muslim districts of the

4

98 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

United Provinces may be constituted into a Mus-
lim State with Lucknow as its capital and Urdu as
the official language, and the rest of the United
Provinces may be constituted into a Hindu State
with Hindi as the oflBcial language. In that way
both communities would be conciliated. The
North-West Frontier Province should be united
with the predominantly Muslim districts of the
Punjab and constituted into a Muslim Dominion
of the Punjab. The Lahore division (approximately)
would make a Dominion of Sikhs, and the rest of
the present Punjab would form a Hindu Dominion.
The racial or rather commimal tangle in this part
of the country, largely the sequel of the canal colo-
nies formed under British Rule, can be dealt with
by resettlement, to which the Punjabi bom emi-
grant as he is, would have no objection.

These suggestions do not cover South India,
but the people of South India like the Moslems
of Northern India have been crying for separate
territorial redistribution which may be made some-
what on the following lines:

The Madras Presidency is territorially grouped
together as one province, with the Tamil, Telegu and
Malayalam peoples. They moreover, include
amongst themselves different cultures and creeds,
and are also divided by language. There is no
objection to give the Dravidians who consider them-
selves to be original founders of the Dravidian

SPEECH A T ROTAKY CLUB, BOMBA Y 99

culture a Dravidistan consisting of Tiimevelly, Madura,
Trichinopoly, Tangore, South Arcot, Chingleput and
Madras. The whole of the Northern Circars likewise
which are sharply divided by reason of racial char-
acteristics, language, and also religious observations
and customs may be given a Telegustan or the
Andhra Desa as it is called, and this may comprise
all the Telegu districts where Telegu is the official
language. There is on the West Coast of India,
the Malabar country which has its own social
system, viz.. Matriarchal, according to which suc-
cesion is traced from the female line. The cultural
differences between the Tamil, Telegu and the
Malabar peoples are great. There is no reason why
the Malayalees should not have their own soverign
State comprising of the whole west coast of India
which lies the two Indian States of Travancore and
Cochin, which may form separate kingdoms. I
have only to add that the population of Bengal,
Behar, Tamilnad, Malabar and other proposed
divisions is sufficiently large and the territories
geographically distinct to render the constitution of
sovereign States easy. Sind, Behar and Orissa, also
Assam have already acquired provincial status.
Now the Indian Army is defending the Malaya
States, Burma and Ceylon, Why not include them
also in this Union of India, with independent sove-
reign status as dominions for they cannot exist or
protect their independence without such a Union.

300 through AN INDIAN CAMERA

I give these views for what they are worth. The
territories in British India and the Indian States
when they are raised to the rank of dominions or
kingdoms may enter into a covenant and form a
League of Indian Dominions with mandatory
powers over such areas which cannot be constituted
thus: as Tribal Lands. The covenant would give
the League effective excutive powers under which
\^ould function the All-India Police Force, and
Equity Tribunal founded on the lines of the Inter-
national Court of Justice at the Hague, the All-
India Air Force, and the All-India Navy.

The question of the All-India constituion such
as a Union Parliament, the representation of the
Dominions therein are naturally complicated and
cannot be discussed within the limited time at my
disposal. The constitution of Soviet Russia in-
cluding with in the Soviet Union various Republics
with more nationalities than India has, languages
and religious distinctions, may suit as a model.
Under such a scheme of the Union of India, as I
have put before you, all the so-called Separatist
Demands such as Pakistan, Dravidistan, etc., may be
reconciled and details may be worked out to the
satisfaction of all parties and peoples through a
Constituent Assembly or by a Round Table Confe-
rence at which the leaders including the Premiers
of the late Congress Government may be summoned.
This may not Only pave the way for a more united

SPEECH AT ROTARY CLUB, BOMBAY 101

and effective war effort, but also build the founda-
tion for a Union which will be an example to the
world and which will be in the closest possible
alliance with the two greatest democracies — Greal
Britain and the United States of America. In this
Union, India will occupy an honourable place and
be a Guardian of the future World Peace as an equal
partner in the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Notes on Pakistan
March 1941

There is little that so far has come out in public
that gives any clear indication as to what Pakistan
means. Generally speaking, as the opponents have
alleged, it is a scheme of separation and as people
from outside of India have interpreted, it is a repe-
tition of the Ulster Movement as in Ireland. One
would have supposed that after all these months
and months of controversy, the air would be cleared
by some definition of the scheme of separation to be
worked out in detail. But the Lahore session of the
Muslim League in March 1940 passed a resolution
which gives some idea of Pakistan. Section 3 of that
resolution says, “ geographically contiguous units
should be demarcated into regions which would be
so constituted with such territorial readjustments
that they may be necessary with the areas in which
the Moslems are numerically a majority as in the
North-Western and Eastern zone of India and should
be grouped to constitute independent states in which
the constituent units should be autonomous and
sovereign.” It is clear from this resolution that
India is to be divided into two, viz., Pakistan and
Hindustan and Pakistan was to be an independent
and a separate sovereign state. It has never been
clearly explained how the sovereignty of Pakistan
can be newly created to function side by side with
Hindustan. If the Moslems are crying as a nation

A’Or£S ON PAKISTAN

103

calling for a home like the Jews in Palestine and the
Communists in China, have all the difficulties been
adequately anticipated in any scheme of bifurcation
of a country into different sovereignties ? The logical
outcome of such a separation means civil war without
any central authority to control and determine the
relationship of sovereign units. There are other
difficulties. Supposing Moslem states are established
where they are in the majority, there will still be the
problems of the minority confronting those states.
Then again, when a state is newly created as we see in
Europe today since the Nazi aggressive policy was
spread with all its ruthless brutality in Poland, Czecho-
slovakia and Austria, there will be a great difficulty for
a humane application of the necessity to settle people
in countries which are foreign to them. If in Bengal
a Moslem state is created taking this as an example,
there will be migration of the Hindus who are a
minority to the other parts. Who is going to orga-
nise such migrations from Province to Province, State
to State unless there is an All-India inter-statal body
with full powers to deal with this matter. The
ideology of this Pakistan business is fundamentally
based on the fear that under a democratic system of
government which in the majority rule must prevail,
there will be in India, a Hindu Raj with the pre-
dominence of Hindu influence prejudicial to the
interests of the Moslems. Can that be justification
for the introduction of such a drastic revolutionary

104 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

measure in a country where for 500 years or more
Hindus and Moslems have lived in amity and concord.
If old states are dismembered and new states are
created on an artificial basis granting for a moment
that a Central Federal Authority will be established
hereafter or the British Government sanctions such
a measure, who will settle all the disputes about
frontiers, boundaries, about the numerical strength of
the Majority and the Minority, for there cannot be
in India an exclusively Moslem kingdom unless Hindus
or any other caste or community are expelled from the
States. It is presumed that the Moslem elements of
the population will not take interest in the formation
of any Hindu kingdom or States, for if India is to be
divided as proposed by Mr. Jinnah, there will be at
least two-fifths of India to be settled thus, in which
Moslem population would mo\e bag and baggage to
exclusively Moslem states, but there will still remain
in Hindu kingdoms a certain percentage of popu-
lation wihich will be Moslem.

Apart from general objections which have been
put forward by the Hindu Mahasabha and other
non-Moslem organisations in this country, I have
not come across a closer study of the Pakistan scheme
of Mr. Jinnah, and perhaps this is due to the fact
that the scheme itself is in an embryonic state and
therefore it is hard to get into grip with the details
and criticise them on any ground, political, economic
and administrative.

NOTES ON PANISTAN

105

The question therefore arises, whether we should
take Mr. Jinnah seriously or whether we should
consider his putting forward this scheme as a mere
political move only for the purpose of embarrassing
the British Government in these critical periods, or
coercing Hindus to accept Moslem terms which in
many respects are far in excess of the legitimate
measures of protection which the Hindu majority
appear quite willing to agree to.

Apart from the criticism that a re-distribution
of territorial areas into new political units is almost
a herculean task, there are many other objections
which only the practical administrator can foresee,
I will summarise them briefly as far as possible with-
in the limits of this note.

India to-day has got large all-India problems
cropping up every now and then, and the establish-
ment of a purely sovereign Moslem state in certain
areas will make the administration of these all-India
problems most difficult, nay impossible. The Civil
and Criminal jurisdiction which is now standardized
throughout the country will have to be remodelled.
New laws will have to be enacted and the days when
Moslems lived amicably with the Hindus as their
neighbours carrying on their trade, commerce and
other activities without molestation or hindrance will
be numbered. Tariff and custom problems, free
exchange of commerce will present numerous
difSculties.

F

106 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

In one of the most recent pronouncements of
Mr. Jinnah we find some clue to the solution of the
problem. Even here although some geographical
divisions are made, no details are given as to the total
population both as regards Moslems as well as
Hindus. It is quite clear that whichever way the
plan for separation is made, there cannot be an
absolutely exclusive Moslem State unless the Minority
Hindu and the Minority Moslem population migrate
after being deprived of their rights and property
which they have acquired through generations by
living on the soil.

In conclusion, it should be fairly stated that
if by some chance Mr. Jinnah is made the Dictator
of India and given a free hand to effect such a parti-
tion, he will be confronted with overwhelming
obstacles even from amongst his own followers.
These followers may in fact be as numerous as those
of the opposite camp.

In these circumstances is it not desirable that the
British Government should right now declare their
own policy about the matter and not allow things
to drift, and the agitation to gain momentum through
propaganda based on religious differences and
communal prejudice.

We may very well take a lesson from what is
happening in China as between the Communist
Party which is really not a Party but an organisation
to establish sovereignty with their own army and

NOTES ON PAKISTAN

107

administrators as against the National Party. For
we see that between the two there has been a constant
clash of interests and no attempt to reconcile the
differences has as yet succeeded. In India there is
grim prospect of civil war in its woist from if the
Moslem policy of Pakistan is carried to its logical
extent in the teeth of the opposition of the Hindu
majority. It is therefore all the more incumbent on
the Indian statesmen to find a solution which in
rough lines I indicated in my speech before the
Rotary Club in Bombay.

Lecture on “ Pre-War Economic Conditions of
Europe and After” to the Historical Society
of the Elphinstone College, Bombay
August 1942

This is a subject which requires an Economic
Expert to deal with — an expert who knows the language
as well as the economic evolution of European
countries during the last quarter of a century. It
is presumptuous therefore, on my part, who can lay
claim to nothing but meagre knowledge of Europe
through my travels, to suggest that I should speak

0 this Society on such a complicated question.
The subject moreover relates to past history, though
recent and may not be so interesting as some of the
burning questions of the day: nevertheless I have
chosen it to stimulate study and reasearch in your
Society.

It would be interesting for this audience to
know that since the conclusion of the last War in
1918 when the Armstice was signed, I visited
Europe in 1919-22 and made a tour around the World
in 1926. In 1929 I made an extensive European
tour travelling through Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey,
Yugoslavia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Germany,
Belgium and France. During the years 1931-33

1 again travelled in most of these European coun-
tries and in addition Spain, Poland, Balaeric Islands,
Sicily, Norway, Sweden, Finland and also Russia.

LBCTUXe AT ELPfimSTONE COLLEGE, BOMBA YW9

The European econoinic crisis can be traped from
1921 to 1929 and my travels therefore wete syn-
chronious with the changes that were taking
place in the whole of Europe during the years
1921-33. It will not be possible within the time
at my disposal to relate my personal experiences
but I may mention that I took every opportunity
to visit all the large industrial factories and organ-
isations, and met important personages including
Mussolini and some of the other notables, both
in the administrative field as well as in the League
of Nations in Geneva. My visit to Russia proved
most interesting. There I studied the result of the
Five-Year Plan after carefully reading Knicker-
boker’s famous book on the subject. There I saw
for myself what was being done, to bring about
the Soviet system of society. Europe was at that
time breaking away from democracy. There was a
Dictator in Turkey, in Yugoslavia and Italy, and
gradually Hitler was emerging from the dynamic
movement of national socialism as its great leader
and exponent. In England the economic condi-
tion gradually deteriorated and unemployment Was
at its highest in 1931 and reachejd the figure of 2f
million. Passing through the Scandinavian countries,
I found the harbour of Copenhagen absolutely desert-
ed. Many ships were lying idle at the quay. All
the biggest ship-owners were in a bankrupt condition ;
Denmark’s trade with Ensland in reeard to het

110 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

dairy produce was seriously affected. In Sweden, most
of tl^e larger industries for which the country Was
famous were struggling against depression, over-
production and want of foreign markets. Sweden
went through the crisis which was to some extent
due to the speculations of Kreuger, one of the
biggest industrialists of the day, who committed
suicide to evade consequences. There was a general
upheaval in Sweden and many of the industrial
magnates were ruined and some of them were put
in prison by Government. Swedish exportation of
timber Was greatly curtailed on account of Russian
competition, and depression was noticeable in all
the industries of Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Much could be said of Russia but there I found the
Five-Year Plan was carried out with great energy
and Russia was pursuing the policy of long-term
loans with European countries and supplying various
classes of commodities including machinery. Scien-
tific resea ch was carried out on an extensive
scale, and the training of the Russians for the most
part was in the hands of German and American
technicians. I visited the Factory Kitchens,
schools and hospitals, and studied the control of
food through the Russian system of rationing and
factory kitchens. I visited the Russian tenements
and had some idea how accommodation was provided
and some of the bigger centres of Russian economic
developments such as Dnieprpetrovsk, and my

LECTURE AT ELPHINSTOUE COLLEGE, BOMBAY Wl

conversations with some of the Commxmist Leaders
of the Russian Economic Developments and organ-
isations showed that although relations with
England were restrained at the beginning, reciprocity
was being established gradually but the general
feeling was that the Russian products were consi-
dered defective and this was a great handicap to the
Russian industries at the time. But the Russians
Were doing everything in their power to improve
the condition of living amongst the workers — ^food,
housing, and hygiene. They clamied that these were
better after the revolution and superior to that of
many European countries. Russia was obtaining long-
term credits upto four years, but authorisation from
the Soviet Union Was necessary for both exporta-
tion and importation of goods. Commerce and
Finance Were under complete control of the whole
financial affairs of the country. In Russia there
Were 153 nationalities, more than 80 literary and
7 official languages. I visited the G.P.U. commu-
nity, the important object of which was to control
the contra-revolution movement of the country.
It was semi-military in character. My general
impression of Russia was that it had undertaken
a great human experiment which Was described by
Hindus as “Humanity Uprooted”. The younger
generation were optimistic as to the ultimate success
of this experiment and were ready to sacrifice every-
thing hoping the best for the future.

3.12 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Reconstruction of Belgium and France demand-
jd a supreme effort. England reaped enormous
advantages, by accretion to her Navy and the
colonial possessions of Germany and started a huge
programme to increase the wealth of the British
Empire. Germany aggrieved and bitter, impover-
ished at the start faced great depression. Working
classes however were made to work at a ruthless
speed to produce sufficient to pay for the repara-
tions. So many commissions were set up during
the various periods between 1920 and 1930 to deal
With the international economic problems but not
one satisfactorily solved them. With the impetus
to industries, factories increased in large numbers in
every country with the result that there was
increased productions and the machine age also
became a powerful economic weapon to make or
mar economic prosperity.

Germany finding her opportunities thus en-
larged owing to the weakness of her rivals, secretly
piled up enormous resources and a huge army in
addition to war industries on a vast scale. It
entered into an agreement With the neighbouring
countries, exploited all their natural wealth and
by a system of Barter by which they did not need
actual money brought about an economic revolu-
tion in the country. They established a system
of conserving their monetary resources which
other European countries followed by prevent-

LECTURE AT BLPHJNSTONE COLLEGE, BOMBAY 113

ing the export of money outside the country
and attracting through various measures foreign
capital.

Amongst all these changes, America stood
alone for a time but not for very long. In 1926
when I first visited America, American prosperity
was at its highest, but gradually there was depression
and one could see people selling apples in the streets
of New York later on. Then came Roosevelt’s
administration under the New Deal and the National
Recovery schemes of various kinds in which enormous
sums of money were spent for public Works of various
descriptions, specially Highways throughout the
length and breadth of the U.S.A.

The fear of living which since 1919 possessed
the people of Europe for twenty years, stirred up
unrest, revolution, acts of violence and finally war
in 1939. There has been 20 years of economic
world warfare in Europe under the Treaties. The
whole map of Europe Was changed. Cities and
Ports were divided up. Instead of uniting several
small territories, the Peace Treaties carved up large
economic Units into Petty States. Thousands of
kilometres of customs boundaries were set up. All
this led to the rise of national socialism in Germany
and finally the destruction of all democratic forces
in Central Europe. A bitter economic war lasted
for many years between Poland and Germany.
Amongst the newly created States, Poland was the

114 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

largest with a population of 33 million and Czecho-
slovakia second largest with a population of 13J^
million. Hungary was dismembered. Every
coxmtry claimed some part from its adjacent neigh-
bours. Relations between Prague and Budapest
Was one of continuous tension till 1939. The
little entente as it was then called consisting of
Serbia, Czechoslovakia and Rumania had constant
conferences to resist the demand of territories.
More than one army was mobilised. Besides the
troubles caused by minority states, there was a
constant fear of war between Italy and Yugoslavia.
Bulgaria became one of the hotbeds of unrest in
the Balkans. Trenches, barbed wire and machine
guns prevented even the small frontier intercourse
between countries. No less than 16 nations lived
in the triangle formed by Vienna, the coast of the
Black Sea and the Southern tip of Greece, each side
being only 600 miles long. The principal mistakes
of the Peace Treaty which plunged the whole world
in overwhelming economic crisis were;

(1) A system of coercion Was made the main

principle of economic solution.

(2) Economic units were destroyed, irrespec-

tive of ties and interdependence.

(3) National economic tyranny was fostered

against international co-operation. Under

a new credit policy the allies granted huge

LECTURE AT ELPH INSTONE COLLEGE, BOMBAY 116

loans for re-armament purposes and
nothing was done for production and
peaceful investments.

In lieu of free exchange of goods there were
foreign currency restrictions, embargoes on assign-
ments and import quotas. In addition to this, the
passport system was vigorously enforced.

My personal experiences of the economic crisis
between 1929 and 1937 raised clear apprehensions
as to the future. I found the bitterness of spirit at
the frontiers. Great resentment, long wait for
hours, ^earch for money and distasteful personal
examination. The restriction of foreign currency
to be imported or exported when leaving, remittan-
ces of money from home countries for travelling
expenses in Germany, Hungary, Austria, Italy and
Russia were restricted. We had to take sterling
or dollars with us and show our' Letters of Credit
or cash to the passport authorities as well as the
Customs to be noted in the pass-books for check
at the time of exit. All the new States of Central
Europe were anxious to get as much foreign money
as they could in dollar or sterling and prevented
their national currency to go out except within very
small limits as 10 marks from Germany. Thus a
large reserve of foreign money was accumulated and
a substantial banking reserve was created for the
payment of manufactured goods. In spite of all
these economic measures for the protection of

116 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

national economic interests everything was cramped
and strangled. As an example, the Austrian Textile
Industry had its spinning wheels in lower Austria
while the weaving mills were situated in German
Bohemia. There was no connection between the
two. The Goblonz Glass and Bangle Industry of
Bohemia was totally destroyed. The Textile
Industries of both countries underwent a severe
crisis in search of new markets. The great ports
in the Adriatic, Trieste and Fiume, which were
fully equipped, were destined to ruin. Many Central
European Banks failed in 1931 and whei^ I visited
some of them during my travels and discussed the
economic situation under the system of national
banking and water-tight compartments, the general
feeling expressed was that it was most difficult to
finance industries owing to the drawbacks of the
then economic situation due to export difficulties,
goods tariff obstruction and communications. There
were no less than 3,000 or 4,000 miles of new
customs boundaries which strangled trade. There
was a steady fall in wages and standard of living.
Many states were hostile to foreigners for fear
of competition and even countries lacking insuffici-
ent labour were forbidden the emigration of foreign
workers. Countries like Poland, the Soviet Union
and Germany controlled foreign travel for Govern-
ment purposes only. There was thus no freedom
of movement and this resulted in the unemployment

LECTURE A T ELPHlNSTOtfE COLLEGE, BOMBA Y 117

of hundreds and thousands and even millions
in all the industrial countries.

My experience of the dole system in England
is not a very happy one. The total number of per-
sons unemployed came to nearly million during
the economic cri.sis of 1929-31. The struggle for
higher wages, threat of strikes, all led to the
economic distress amongst the people. Those who
received doles had no incentive to get work.

Officers and men returning home met their
first disappointment when promises made for being
re-employed in their original vocation were not
fulfilled. Altogether within one year of the
Armistice there were 6 million registered imem-
ployed in Europe. Under this severe economic
condition the birth-rate declined and in Central
Europe the number of children Went down to al-
most pre-war level. With the fear of national
socialism in Germany, all capital flew and when
the present war broke out. Continental Europe
sent most of their capital and gold reserves to the
United States. We all know that there was over-
production in the United States under cotton, and
Brazil threw coffee into the sea and rivers. Ware-
houses were all filled up and for. years grain, flour,
maize, sugar, cotton and coffee were sold at minimum
prices. When Hitler came into power he promis^
a reversal of this state of affairs in a fight to the last
to gain living space “Lebensraum”. The League

118 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

of Nations which was established to prevent further
wars was a figure without flesh and blood having
no power to enforce decisions, published only
paper resolutions and statistics. The Soviet Union,
on the other hand, as well as Germany and Italy,
withdrew from the L ag-^e, and the two Axis powers
in Europe tried to convince workers that they had
found a remedy for all the evils discribed above.

The war industries of the United States and the
United Kingdom make one shudder to think what
the economic condition of Eurepe will be after the
present war ends. The policy due to the Lease and
Lend Bill of the States and the supplies that the
U.S.A. makes to the democracies under this will
create an economic crisis of the first magnitude.
Already purchasing commissions have been set up
while the war is in progress with a view to buy up
raw materials, stocks for the post-war period.

If hewever the lib rty of the individual is

assured and there is proper economic planning in
Eur' p3, the conflict between the interests of the
State and Community and those of the individual
will be solved under a sound system of that kind
of planning which will mean the utilisation of labour
released, and industrial production will have to be
organised which is now entirely under the grip of

war industries. There ought to be freedom of

movement and less restriction for exports and

imports. Measures have to be taken to avoid

LECTURE AT ELPHINSTONE COLLEGE, BOMBAY 119

inflation and a stricter supervision exercised over
countries of all kinds. First and foremost the
democratic states must give sufficient work to employ
immediately all surplus manpower. They should
gaurantee complete freedom of movement of all
workers and supply raw materials under State
control. They should have an international agree-
ment for working hours and lastly, opening up
of all colonies must be on an international basis.

Whatever has been said above touches only
the fringe of this vast subject. I have avoided all
reference to politics or problems arising from
the conflict between Europe and Asia which will
surely take an acute form as time goes on. I
have also avoided all reference to the Indian problem
which has a formidable bearing on the post-war
economic problems of the world as a whole. Time
prevents me from dealing with this and other cognate
subjects.

My travels during the years of crisis 1929-31,
through all the European countries gave me a clear
idea of the impending storm and when I returned
to England after these travels I realised how little
Great Britain was prepared to face it in an adequate
manner. The problems of economic reconstruc-
tion in England itself are formidable indeed.
Problems of economic reconstruction in the world
appear to me to be beyond the comprehension of
one nation unless the best brains of all the nations

120 THROUGH AH INDIAN CAMERA

at war whether they be \ictorious or vanquished
combine together without any spirit of bitterness
or revenge to formulate a scheme by co-operation
and good-will so that history may not repeat itself
after the Peace Treaties are signed and fears are
let lose to prepare for another War within the period
of less than two decades. The prospect is gloomy
indeed. Whatever may be the ultimate result of this
grim war through which we are passing, at least
from the economic point of view. The war is one
of total destruction, impoverishment leading to
starvation, misery and complete overthrow of the
system of society to which the different countries
of Europe have been individually accustomed.
How far the communistic and the national social-
istic as Well as the Fascist systems can be re-
conciled or modified to form a constructive platform
for practical purposes to solve post-war problems
is indeed a question which I venture to say no one
however familiar with the trend of events in the
field of economics can satisfactorily answer.

The question finally arises, supposing Armis-
tice is declared tomorrow, what will be the economic
condition of Europe? Will there be a European
revolution against Nazism and Fascism or a Revo-
lution against Capitalism which will undoubtedly
be very much stronger in the United States and
probably in England than it is today ? No country
will be able to feed itself. Even Great Britain has

LECTURE AT ELPHINSTONE COLLEGE, BOMBA Y 121

been recently warned that wherever they land they
will have to bring with them everything from food
to buttons. When the war is over there will be mass
unemployment of all European countries. All the
impoverished nations will need help not only of
capital but materials. They will have manpower
in abundance freshly demobilised nearing starva-
tion. They will have to be provided With tools,
transport, fertilizers and machines through an
international exchange on an international scale.
How are they to be organised? is the question of post-
war reconstruction. Many are of the opinion
that British and American capitalism may be an
instrument to throttle Socialistic initiative. It has also
been said that to exterminate German imperialism and
German aggressiveness it is not enough to remove
Hitler, it is necessary to eradicate those economic
and political forces which have made Hitler. Will
U.S.A. and Great Britain rise to the occasion, and
lead the economic reconstruction of the world by
the surrender of vested interests of capitalism ?

In conclusion, I cannot do better than quote
the words recently addressed by a Polish Socialist

to a British Socialistic audience “You must

bear in mind that the victory of socialism and de-
mocracy on the Continent Will depend to the greatest
extent on the attitude of British Labour. The
liberated countries Will be in a state of destruction
and ruin. They Will need econmic help, your

122 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

country can give it. You will have to decide whether
the Continent shall fall a prey to vested interests of
your own and American capitalists or whether it
will get help Within the framework of a European
economic union. It will depend on your attitude
whether such a union will be created. It Will
depend on whether you will allow your country to
remain in its pre-war splendid isolation or join the
Commonwealth of Continental nations.

A reactionary government in your country Will
be hailed by all the reactionary forces on the Con-
tinent. A lasting victory of democracy in your
country will decide the lasting victory of democracy
in Europe.”

Letter to the « Times of India ” on
“ Compromise and Unity ”

September 1942

I read with great interest your leading article,
“ Compromise and Unity ” commenting on Sir
Feroz Khan Noon’s plan, outlined at Aligrah, for
the division of India into five great Dominions,
linked to a central authority controlling defence,
customs, foreign relations and currency.

You very rightly pointed out that according to^
Indian History the country’s loyalties have been
more territorial than religious, surely a powerful
argument against the division of India into Muslim
and Hindu sovereign States according to the Paki*
Stan scheme. May I add that Indian loyalties on
a territorial basis are growing stronger. Provincial
nationalism has sharpened and intensified linguistic
and racial differences. There is a cry everywhere
for Punjab for Punjabis ; Bengal for Bengalis ; Madras-
for Madrasis, and so forth, not to speak of simi-
lar cries prevailing in Indian States, such as
Mysore for Mysoreans, Hyderabad for Hyderabadis.
Sir Feroz Khan Noon’s proposal is not altogether
original as I will presently show. But his ideas,
taken together with those of His Highness the Maha-
raja of Indore, recently given out to the Press, do indi-
cate that the country is at last getting Union minded
and leaving the track of an All-India Federation,

124 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

based on the Act of 1935, which no longer holds
the field as a solution of the present tangle.

Thirteen years ago I gave publicity to a scheme
for the Union of India in my journal Indian Affairs
which I conducted in London, in an article With the
title “Not One Dominion But Many”. In that article
it was stated • amongst other things, that the religi-
ous cleavage in India was intensified by the con-
stitution of India into a single State. It was suggested
that the solution of the political problem in India
Was the substitution of the Empire of India by a
League of Dominions, Kingdoms and Tribal Lands.
Out of what is known as British India, thirteen
racially and linguistically homogeneous dominions
could be constituted and twelve of the principal
Indian States could be raised to the rank of King-
doms and thus given the same status as a Dominion.
Further details were given as to how the division
Was to be made. For example, outside the North-
West Frontier Province, the Punjab and the United
Provinces of Agra and Oudh, no less than eight
racially and linguistically homogeneous dominions
could be constituted. The predominantly Muslim
districts of the United Provinces could be constituted
into a Muslim State, with Lucknow as its capital,
and Urdu as the official language, and the rest of
the United Provinces could be constituted into a
Hindu State with Hindi as the official language.
The North-West Frontier could be imited with the

COMPROMISE AND UNITY 125

predominantly Muslim districts of the Punjab and
constituted as a Muslim Dominion.

Many years have elapsed since then and we are
no nearer the solution of the Indian tangle. It is
significant however that the two recent pronounce-
ments which converge on the idea of a Union of
India do suggest a bonafide attempt to solve the
Indian problem. While the Maharaja’s views mark
a definite advance in what hitherto was considered
as the conservative stronghold of autocratic rule
in India, the suggestion of the British Indian
Muslim administrator aims at a compromise between
the Pakistan and the Congress points of view.

May I venture to suggest again as I did in May
1941, when the situation was not so serious, that the
British Government should forthwith make a new
gesture, sununon a Constitutional Assembly or a
Round Table Conference, including the Indian States,
for the establishment of a Union comprising not
one Dominion but many, to facihtate the settlement
of all political differences between Congress and
the Muslim League, between Province and Province,
between minority parties and between British India
and the Indian States. The map of India which is
of British make and origin has to be re-made right
now without’ waiting for the end of war. Then only
will additional strength be secured for the United
Nations to fight the enemies of liberty and justice
how seeking dominance in both hemispheres.

Article as Published in the “ Hindustan Review ’*
on “ Sir Stafford Cripps and After —

A Retrospect and Prospect”

September 1942

It is not necessary to relate the circumstances
which brought Sir Stafford to this country. The
facts are too well known to bear repetition. The con-
dition of the political atmosphere in India has not
changed very much since the British offer of August
1940, nor has the attitude of the various political
parties — the Congress, the All-India Muslim League
and the Hindu Mahasabha, the Liberal Federation
and the Non-Party Group, led by Sir Tej Bahadur
Sapru — shown any material change. It is therefore
right to say that owing to the trend of events in the
war and the entry of Japan into the struggle, a
necessity has been felt to secure the full and un-
reserved collaboration of India in the general
war effort of the United Nations. Is it, therefore, a
fear that India would be in serious danger and of
no help without such collaboration, or is it due to
a real, genuine and bonafide desire to lead India to the
path of complete self-government that the last
British offer was made ? The answer of this question
may be that the present British move in regard to
India is due to the fear indicated in the first question.
That makes the situation more difficult. But let
us leave that alone for the moment and examine the

SIR STAFFORD CRIFPS AND AFTER 127

Government proposals for India’s future consti-
tution with reference to what has already been done
and said during the past decade or more.

In the draft declaration, brought by Sir
Stafford for discussion, a reference is made to the
fulfilment of promises in regard to the future of India.
The preamble of the declaration, therefore, at once
brings us back to the last War and what was done
in 1917, including the pledges that were then given
in regard to Dominion Status. A quarter of a
century is quite an appreciable time as an interval
between two stages of political evolution in this
country, between which the historian will really
not discern any material difference.

One important difference, however, is, that
after the war the new constitution will be framed
by a constituent assembly to be elected and charged
with that task. It would appear, therefore, to any
impartial and unprejudiced observer that the pro-
cedure of the Round Table Conference is being
revived and unending discussions will be a repeating
feature covering a period of another decade before
the final constitution is agreed upon. Even so, there
is no hope that it will be agreed upon by every section
of the Indian people, or by the three political parties
in the British Parliament just as was the case in 1935.

What is, therefore, the main difficulty in the
offer made by the War Cabinet which does not induce
the Indian people to join together, forgetting their

128 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

differences, but which makes them give whole-hearted
co-operation in the struggle that has now taken
such a dangerous form in regard to the future safety
and integrity of the Indian sub-continent ?

The first criticism that one would like to make
is that far too much importance has been given in
the usual British way to the re-affirmation of the
previous pledges about Dominion Status in the
future constitution of India. These are contro-
versial matters in which there is nothing new to dis-
cuss, for every point has been discussed threadbare
during the past critical years of controversy. In
fact the people in England got tired of the whole
subject and became apathetic and, even when the
Congress Governments came into existence, there
was a very deep under-current of not only oppo-
sition, but resentment, at the spirit with which the
Act of 1935 was worked. Sir Stafford, after coming
with great hopes of a settlement, retraced his steps
back to England just as Montagu, the then Secretary
of State for India did, with the difference that he
left India very much worse off than before, —
almost on the brink of a political revolution which
increased the dangers and difficulties of the present
War situation. Time is an important factor and it
was natural to expect that right now on the spot
Sir Stafford’s proposals should have taken a practical
form and determined the future control of events
leading to the prosecution of the War.

S/J{ UTAFFOKJ) CRIFP.S AND AFTER 129

The second criticism is that the Indian States
were given a back seat or rather a position in the
whole picture which was not in consonance With
their importance, firstly in regard to the prosecution
of the war and secondly, in the future constitution
of India. All the phrases used in the Draft declara-
tion were not original ; in fact they had an old
flavour, and reading between the lines the historian
might say that it was another attempt to gain time,
in fact the third time since the visit of Montagu to
this country. The right to secede has, after all, an
academic importance. The question of vital moment
s: how India is going to defend herself, and in this
matter it is stated that before a new constitution
can be framed, meaning thereby for an indefinite
period. His Majesty’s Government must inevitably
bear the responsibility and retain control and direc-
tion of the defence of India as part of their world-
war effort. Paragraph 3 of the declaration in this
behalf, is contradictory in itself, for the responsibility
of the Govenunent of India is of two different kinds
and there is no provision made according to which
they can be harmonised and a practical effect given
in the discharge of these responsibilities in the
direction of affairs at the present crisis, the serious-
ness of which neither Great Britain, after all the
reverses she has suffered, nor the Indian people, seem
fully to realise.

The third criticism is that the declaration, which

5

130 THROUGH an INDIAN CAMERA

may follow as a basis of the draft, now published,
would be conditional upon a general favour-
able acceptance by the various sections of the
Indian people. Besides, the document had to be
taken as a whole. Thus, we see that this condi-
tion is a mere repetition of the condition made in
the August offer, thereby throwing the responsibi-
lity upon the Indian people.

The fourth criticism is with regard to consent.
The Provinces and the States have been given the
freedom to stand aside and this they will no doubt
do under one objection or another, with the result
that the total number of political entities that may
hereafter join the Union together may not be suffi-
cient in the quantity and quality to become the real
foundation of the future Union. I wonder what the
future historian will say about the political meetings
that took place between Sir Stafford and the Indian
political parties and their leaders, not to speak of
individuals summoned from all comers of India
in order to ascertain their own personal views on
the subject. In fact. Sir Stafford held a miniature
Round Table Conference in India, when the enemy
Was at the door, and owing to the vague and nebu-
lous offer of the British, now made, it failed to evoke
that enthusiasm which was essential to bring ail
sections of the Indian people together. Positive,
quick and active results of such a conference were
from the very first not in sight. Sir Stafford returned

S/R STAFFORD CRIPFS AND AFTER 131

to England and reported to the War Cabinet and
the Parliament the result of his discussions and
negatived the prospects of his Government doing
something definite which would bring India for-
ward to a more safe position in regard to the defence
of the country as a whole. In fact it is lamentable
that Sir Stafford Cripps was not given the authority
to introduce straight away some measure in the
administration of the country on the spot, by which
all suspicions, fears and doubts on the part of the
Indian leaders could be removed once and for all,
and one united battle front created forthwith for
India’s defence.

At the present moment the defence problems
are the most important in which is included the
production of war materials and weapons of offence
and defence; for even if an army of five millions
is organised by a national drive in the country,
it is of no practical use, unless provided with neces-
sary equipments. The proposals did not touch
upon this point, and much of the consequential
action had to be assumed as likely to follow without
looking just a little ahead.

My conclusions are as follows: — India should
have accepted all that the Cripps Memorandxim
offered, without prejudice as to the attitude that
may be taken by leading political parties at the end
of the War and thus challenge the honafides of
the War Cabinet. They can put forward their

132 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

respective contentions when the Constituent Assembly
is convened.

Secondly, the Congress Government should be
restored in all the provinces in which the Congress
Ministers were elected and, as suggested in Chapter
rV of the pamphlet I published in London entitled
Looking Ahead in War Time, the Central Cabinet
should be forthwith reconstituted. This is what
I said : “The British Government have made a
gesture promising Dominion Status. They may,
however, go a bit further, for the Indian public now
has little faith in British pledges, and make suitable
changes in the present Government of India and
pass an emergency measure in Parliament changing
the bureaucratic form of government at the centre
by the introduction of responsible government for
a strong National Executive, fit to undertake the
responsibilities of National Defence. Such an
additional gesture may ease the situation as regards
the communal problem. My suggestion is that
full co-operation in the war with the Allies will be
forthcoming if the Constitution question is, as it
must be, left alone, and the British Government
■decree that States and minorities be grouped together
on the population basis, fixing a minmum of. say,
50 million, each having their right to elect their
leader who will then automatically find a place in
the Central Cabinet.”

Thirdly, .gigantic efforts must be made to utilise

S//e STAFFORD CRIPPS AND AFTER 133

all the resources of India and organise all the larger
industries on war footing for the purpose of giving
military supplies of offence and defence through-
out the length and breadth of the country.

Fourthly, a drive for the recruitment to the
new National Indian Army should be carried out
in right earnest, securing the co-operation of all
parties, and training centres should be established
in as many places as possible for getting them ready
without further loss of time.

Fifthly, co-ordination between British India and
the States may be effected by a Co-ordination Board
for the purposes of war effort, as indicated above,
and, lastly an officer for propaganda should be
appointed forthwith within each province to do war
propaganda in the truest sense of the term, taking
a lesson in this respect from Germany and Japan,
for the masses have to be roused to the sense of
danger and need of co-operation on their part in
every conceivable manner.

Letter to the Times of India ” on
“ Extra-Territorial Rights ”

October 1942

Your recent article on the subject of the abro-
gation of extra-territorial rights in China by the
British and American Governments very rightly
focuses public attention in India to the bonafides
of these two Governments, in regard to their very
friendly attitude towards China. You emphasised
the necessity of Western democracies to establish
relations of absolute equality with China, and you
said, “whatever the origin of a system which until
recently exempted the nationals of twenty countries
from appearing for trial before Chinese courts, the
system itself has been one of the biggest obstacles,,
blocking the way to the establishment of cordial
relations between China and the West”.

In this connection I feel that there is a very
important and forcible justification for abandoning
extra-territorial rights in Indian India, by which
I mean the Indian States in treaty with the Para-
mount Power. Sufficient public attention to this
matter has not been drawn in recent years during
the period of discussion to establish an All-India
Federation or bring about a revision of the treaties.
If it is a fact that certain extra-territorial rights still
exist in Indian India, is there any justification for

“ EXTRA-TERRITORIAL RIGHTS" 135

them at the present time. It cannot be questioned
that the Princes as Rulers of these States are in a
position or status, so far as the internal administra-
tion of their territories is concerned, inferior to
China. It will be idle to urge that their laws are
unsuitable for the trial of criminal cases or adjudi-
cation of civil disputes in which the British or
foreign nationals and the subjects of the States are
parties. While it is unnecessary to go into the
origin of extra-territorial rights in Indian India which
have been handed down for many years past under
conditions which no longer exist, it is not inappropriate
to draw the attention of the Paramount Power to the
necessity of abandoning extra-territorial rights, now
in existence, specially at the present juncture when the
Princes have given further evidence of their loyalty
and zeal, as well as spirit of sacrifice for the cause of
the United Nations in the war against Germany
and Japan.

I am firmly of the conviction that the time has
now come for the British Government to make a
gesture to the Princes declaring their intention to
abandon extra-territorial rights in their States, thus
bringing their policy in India in a line with that they
have adopted in regard to China. This is perhaps
a matter which the Chamber of Princes has already
under their consideration, but as one conversant with
the manner in which such extra-territorial rights have
been exercised in the past in at least three important

136 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Indian States, and yet as one who has at present
no manner of personal interest or connection ex-
cept the welfare and consolidation of India as a
whole and the prestige of the Rulers of Indian India
in particular, I seek the hospitality of your paper to
draw public attention to this important matter.

Article as Published in the Indian Review on
“ The World War and the Feminine ”
November 1942

It is now three years since the war which has
now spread in both the hemispheres, began. Millions
of men, mobilized, enlisted, trained, and finally sent
out to the different theatres of war, have left behind
millions of women belonging to them either as
Mothers, Wives, Daughters, Sisters, and Sweet-
hearts. They do not appear in the headlines of the
newspapers giving news about the war. In most
European countries, including England, at least half
the number of able-bodied young women are working
in the munition factories and in various war indus-
tries. Their enlistment in such work has been gradual
and great transformation has taken place in their
daily habits and in their general outlook. The
changes that are taking place in these matters
nobody has time to consider in the dust and in the
din of battle.

Taking the young Women first, they are doing
magnificent work in the countries of the Allied
nations as well as in the Axis countries. They
do not get any public recognition, nor any thanks
for the hardships they are undergoing, but they do
not mind. The way they have reacted to this un-
natural situation is worthy of examination. They
must have relaxation and also a certain amount
of compensation in other ways which they take

138 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

when they can get it. In all these developments,
does any one devote a moment’s thought to the
changes that are taking place in feminine psycho-
logy? These I wish to emphasize for the benefit
of your readers.

In the first place, women have learnt to be more
self-reliant, they do not require the help of a man
in travelling, in their work or in their amusements.
They are becoming a class by themselves. It is a
common thing to find two or more women in
groups, in uniform, sitting in a restaurant and amus-
ing themselves. They are not sensitive to men’s
advances in such public places. They have a superior
air and a look as if they are doing their bit just as
much as the men, and if opportunities were given
they would even go to the front. The feminine
nature is thus gradually being destroyed. Can
any one imagine what will happen when they re-
turn to their homes? The Spartan women who
excelled in every form of athletics acquired a physique
which showed women to perfection in the feminine
form. The modem woman in war time is reaching
that stage and in all probability will require no
attention or admiration from the men. Pursuing
the argument further we may also imagine a period
when these women will become sadistic in tendencies,
having come in daily contact with the roughness,
and the cruelty of war; and their gentle instincts, and
chiefly their maternal instinct, will slowly disappear.

139

•* THE WORLD WAR AMD THE FEMININE

From my personal experience, I have come
across this tendency amongst the young English
women who have been drafted to the big industrial
centres of England. Without going into details,
it may be said that the ordinary conversation one
hears in the black-out amongst these women has
no characteristics of the feminine sex. In fact, it
has been known that they take the role of men when
they accost a young British soldier, or officer, or
for that matter any man. Here is what I once heard
in the black-out.

Soldier . — “What Ho! who goes there?”

Girl— “A Friend.”

Soldier — “A friend indeed, come and walk with
me.”

Girl . — “Where do you live? I live in a nice
flat.”.

Soldier . — “I only live in a hut.”

Girl . — “Then come and I will make you com-
fortable in this cold night.” So they proceed.

Mind you, there is no harm thought of in this
little episode, but what develops later is nobody’s
business. Probably nothing, and they part as good
friends next morning. I know personally, at least,
one case, in which a young woman, an Oxford
Graduate of 30, thus took care of a young
British soldier. Here the question of sex did not
arise at all, the pre-occupations of the war, the grim
outlook of life forced upon the people, the danger

140 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

of air-raids any moment, causing destruction and
havoc all round have mutilated the inner springs of
the human body, as between man and woman.
Both are machines being worked to death with a
certain purpose.

Here is what an English friend of mine who
is in the Department of IMucation, though married,
writes on the changed situation in England.
“Nursery schools are springing everywhere, com-
munal feeling is becoming the thing of necessity,
people of all sorts and conditions get together for
lunches. That should continue even after the war, it
breaks down class barriers and saves ordinary women
countless hours of drudgery. Public schools have
evacuated to the country, and with their change of
address have sloughed off much of their old class
conscious habits and traditions.” The same friend
gives an account of a young pupil of hers, who was
a teacher, giving up her job and joining the A. I. D.
while rude folk tell that it means ‘always in drink’,
but officially it means Aircraft Inspection Depart-
ment. This is what another young woman has
written to me about her work. “This business of
sending every one as far as away from home as
possible asks for trouble, and is quite senseless.
I am working all day and it just seems senseless kind
of work. I hate saluting and standing up for Offi-
cers.” About a woman officer, she writes

“she always seems to be pulling me up for nothing

“ THE WORLD WAR AND THE FEMININE ” 141

at all and giving such looks down her nose at me,
why I do not know.”

If you follow up this line of thought in various
other spheres of women’s activities, you will discover
that the middle-aged woman is helping in a more
drastic manner than you imagine to kill sex in the
young woman by their own example. Is this a
blessing in disguise or an evil, the consequences of
which may be felt by the future unborn generations.

In this country we receive accounts of women’s
activities in various spheres of social and economic
life, both in England and America, from the news-
papers. Amongst the older women, hardly any
change of psychology is perceptible. They are
doing what they did in the last war, knitting for the
most part, and preparing articles for the comfort
of soldiers. Middle-aged women, through influence
or otherwise, mostly push, have secured for them-
selves lucrative positions in the various organisations
relating to war, industries, and war effort, principally
for the purpose of controlling younger recruits placed
in their care. I cannot say that they are a credit
to their sex with many exceptions, no doubt. The
majority of them are more bossy, domineering and
intolerant than men could be, placed in similar
situations. They have got their pre-occupations,
some as old maids, others as discontented wives,
and spend their time mostly outside their homes.
I am not very much concerned with the future of

142 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

the old women or those middle-aged persons of
the same sex in the New World Order. Except
those who are keenly studying the changes that are
taking place in our society in general, and recording
their impressions through story books, novels and
other descriptive works, the majority of them will
pass out of notice without exercising any influence
whatsoever. It is the young women that count.
They will emerge from this war with a totally different
psychology and also a totally different physical out-
look. They will be hardened, less sensitive,
-and will assert themselves to gain for them and their
sisters, a place in the social, political and economic
life of the country. So much so, that their influence
will be transferred from the home to the outside
world, and as regards rearing up families, looking
after children, their education and up-bringing, they
will play a lesser and lesser part. Such a result will
naturally force the government of the country,
that is to be, to assume responsibility such as we
see in Soviet Russia. These young women will,
for the most part, be socialistic in tendencies and
veer around to the mentality of the women of Soviet
Russia where, in every respect, they are equal in
status and importance to the men, and have no
domestic drudgery to face. It would be difficult
to foresee how the Soviet example will practically
be followed in America or in England, but one thing
is certain, and that is the general breaking up of the

" THE WORLD WAR AND THE FEMININE " 143

home life and the family life as it is seen today in
the capitalistic countries. The independence of
women caused by their increased capacity to earn
for themselves will put them in a position of power
and influence in every sphere and, however desirable
an improvement this may be, it is too early yet to
foresee the repercussions that would take place in
all the spheres of human life, in which a woman has
been a co-partner with man hitherto.

Turning now to Eastern countries, it is signifi-
cant that although Women’s Movement has spread
rapidly in Japan, China and India, one hears very
little as to what the women are doing towards this
war, from these countries. It is possible that in
Japan women are doing, as in European countries,
munition and other war work. The new movement
in Japan, which has brought about an ambition on
the part of the Japanese nation to secure the supre-
macy of Asia, has imbued the women also, as I noticed
during my visit to Japan in 1926. Their spirit of
earnestness, efficiency, and great patriotism seem
to characterise all their efforts in study and home
life, and even in regard to rearing of their children.
It is a great force in the national life of Japan that
has to be reckoned with by her opponents. In China
likewise, but not to the same extent, the Chinese
women, who have had the benefit of educa-
tion as the Chinese Commander-in-Chief’s wife,
Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, are taking a leading pan

144 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

in the regeneration of the country and have been
brought to come to a sense of their overpowering
responsibility by Japanese aggression. But they are
a minority and their psychology is for the most part
influenced by education that has been spread amongst
them through American agencies, either American
Missionaries in the country or American Universi-
ties to which the Chinese women have been sent
for higher education.

What about India? Reading the newspapers
one does not see what the Indian women are doing
in this war. All that appears in the Press relates
to the activities of the men leaders of the different
parties, and the holders of responsible positions under
Government. The country is going through a crisis
and the war effort which now is going to be whip-
ped up by the National War Front Movement in-
augurated in every province and most of the Indian
States, does not seem to have brought the women
to the forefront, although many of them are working
silently behind the scenes. For example, not
a single woman has made any pronouncement
regarding the recent Congress resolution, which
is likely to cause a major political crisis. Looking
at them in big cities, one wonders whether the
women who enjoy the luxuries of modern life through
the wealth and opulence of their husbands, ever
realise the possibilities of drastic changes in the
country, sooner or later. They are the ones that

•' THE WORLD WAR AND THE FEMININE ” 145

are spending money in a capitalistic system of
society. Whatever organisations there may be
amongst the women of India to promote war effort
in various directions, except of course as munition
and factory workers, for which they are not as
yet fitted to take an equal part with men, one
has yet to find out the extent and scope as
to what the women are doing. No leader has
come forward amongst the women to set up a
movement to counteract those evil influences which
are now at large, spreading over the country against
war effort. Most of this kind of work is done by
men. If co-operation between men and women
is needed, anywhere, or at any time, it is now
in India, where women have advanced beyond
any one’s imagination, in social p ogress, edi ca ion
and enlightenment. It has yet to be seen how far
such advancement has brought about with it the
sense of responsibility in national welfare. It is the
women and their children that will suffer when
aggression comes to the land in real earnest. In
A. R. P. organisations or Volunteer Bodies set up
to relieve distress through unofficial agencies, it is
absolutely necessary to enlist the co-operation of
women in every endeavour that the nation will
require to meet acute suffering, distress, and general
dislocation of national life. In other words, a move-
ment should be set on foot to train Indian women
of education in a healthy form of socialism, by which

146 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

not only the sufferings of the poor, but the need of
sacrifice on the part of the rich have to be attended
to, before anything tangible can be done to prevent
the spread of chaos and dislocation in national life,
panic and in fact, disaster in every field throughout
the country. I appeal to the women of India to
come forward and offer their services by setting up an
organisation of voluntary effort. There are many
European women who have not been able to go
back to their own countries that are holding res-
ponsible positions, and not a few Parsee women
are doing the same; but Hindus and Moslems and
also other communities should contribute their
quota of national workers amongst women after
providing for a course of training if necessary to
enable them to take an effective part in relieving the
sufferings of all classes of people that are bound to
come in the wake of this grim and ruthless war.

To conclude this article a reference can, with
advantage, be made to two movements led from
opposite sides, one the war on women and the
other war on men which have manifested in civilised
countries of the West. I have just read an account
of an ambitious programme for post-war fight
against the feminine invasion which is being planned
by the National Men’s Defence League. This
League says, that feminism is a menace to men’s
jobs, family life and to the very existence of Britain
as a first-rate power. This sounds serious enough.

“ THE WORLD WAR AND THE EEM/N/NE " 147

The League quotes statistics, However, to show that
when there were two million unemployed men in
England, there were six million women in industrial
trades and professions. It is difficult to visualise
with what intensity the sex war will be launched
after the present war is over. There is another side
to the question. From the women’s point of view
there is a Defence Movement in certain allied coun-
tries and we have one instance of that from Australia
where girls want to fight the “brownout Romeos,”
by carrying hat pins, bag needles, spikes, files, pen-
knives, cayennes-pepper, scissors, or weighted torches
in their handbags. Many young girls are appa-
rently victims of undesirable attentions from men
when they return after late hours working in munition
and other war factories. The tendencies thus mani-
fested are surely not conducive to bringing about
harmony which is essential as between men and
women for the growth of a healthy national life.

The problems set forth above are of sufficient
importance to invite the attention of social workers
with adequate knowledge of feminine psychology.

Comments on Mr. ChnrchiU’s Broadcast
March 1943

Recently the broadcast made by Mr. Churchill,
the Prime Minister of England, brought forth a
scheme for the reconstruction of Europe, and if I
mistake not for the reconstruction of the whole
world. This is what he said .... “It will be out
hope that the United Nations headed by the British
Commonwealth of Nations, the United States and
Soviet Russia should immediately begin to confer
upon the future world organisation which is to be our
safeguard against further wars.” He envisaged a
Coimcil of Europe and a Council of Asia, against all
past experiences of the League of Nations established
at Geneva after the last war. He resolved to make
the Council of Europe into a really effective League
with all the strongest forces woven into its texture with
a High Court to adjust disagreements and other forces,
national or international, to enforce decisions. This
Council is to embrace the whole world — a wild dream,
dreamt by many philosophers and statesmen but
which has never yet come true. Churchill is how-
ever no dreamer when he anticipates disagreements.
For he says that the permanent interests of Britain,
the United States and Russia have to be harmo-
nised. What these permanent interests are now,
and what they will be in the future no one knows.
The whole broadcast is a mixture of all kinds of

COMMENTS ON ME. CHURCHILL’S BROADCAST 149

Utopian ideas and practical problems such as un-
employment and improvement of agriculture, need
for large farms, stable currencies, increase of
British exports and so forth. The “ Hindu," in a leader
published on the 24th March, has a well written
criticism of the Churchill broadcast which may be
considered to represent the all-India view on the
subject. The first criticism according to the
Hindu " is that Churchill wants to segregate the
world problems into two compartments, labelled"
Europe and Asia — the European organisations headed
by the British Commonwealth of Nations will come
first. If the Council is to be dominated by Great
Britain, Europe and Russia for the protection of
their permanent interests, what about the smallef
nations or the Axis Countries ? Are they to be
admitted into this Council or is it going to be made
optional for their entry ?

The Council of Asia is a fantastic idea inas-
much as it has no independent status, but as the
"Hindu" points out, would be a mere satellite for the
Council of Europe. The most noteworthy feature
of the broadcast of the British Prime Minister is
that the territories conquered by Japan have to be
freed from the grip of the enemy, but he says nothing
about the help to China and I may add that he
says nothing about giving freedom to India. In
all these expositions of policy for the future re-
construction of the world, India is hardly eve

160 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

mentioned, and it is significant that everything is
centred on Great Britain and the British Com-
monwealth of Nations, and the rock-bottom of
the scheme is that the economic conditions of
Europe will have to be subservient to the economic
planning spread over four years for the recon-
struction of Great Britain. We know to our cost
that everything is being done to build a scheme
for a substantial increase of British export and for
catching the trade of the world. How the three
parties, the United States, Great Britain and Russia,
will agree to a Council following such a policy is
indeed a doubtful question. It is obvious that there
will be an economic crisis of the first magnitude
when the present war is over, specially owing to the
Lease and Lend Bill of the United States of America
where already Purchasing Commissions have been
set up with a view to buy up raw material stocks, etc.,
for the post-war period.

Mr. Churchill mentions about unemployment
and says that it would not be right to have any idle
people, but doesn’t say how the Council of Europe
is going to solve this question. The whole plan
of this Council of Europe is based on inconsistent
and contradictory propositions, for as the “ Hindu''
points out, how can Britain contrive to increase
her pre-war exports and at the same time her im-
ports of food, and give employment to all the surplus
man-power released when the war is over.

COMMENTS ON MR. CHURCHILVS BROADCAST 151

The truth of the matter is that the conservative
elements in the British nation have no imagination
to tackle these gigantic problems specially at the
present moment. To quote a British Socialist^
‘‘Victory of socialism and democracy on the Conti-
nent will depend to a large extent on the attitude
of British labour. The liberated countries will be
in a state of destruction and ruin, and it is the
British labour that will have to decide whether the
dontinent will fall a prey to vested interests of the
British and American capitalists, or whether it will
get help within the framework of a European Eco-
nomic Union.”

In conclusion, one may say that the Churchill
broadcast while showing the need of British Impe-
rialists, tries at the same time to discuss it by Utopian
doctrines of a Pan-Europa to be led by the strings
of the United States, Great Britain and Russia.
Will Russia follow in this march as the third party —
only to be bullied and exploited after final victory
is won against the Axis Powers ?

Speech at the Bangalore Century Club
Silver Jubilee Celebration
March 1943

Believe me it is not a mere platitude when I say
that the Committee’s invitation to me to preside at
this dinner is a great honour conferred upon me,
especially as I am convinced that owing to the
long absence from the country, and specially from
Bangalore, which covers 17 out of the 25 years of
the Club’s existence, I am the last person to be chosen
to head the table on this festive occasion irrespect-
ive of the relations I had with this Club in the earlier
days, as one of its office-bearers. Although my
contemporaries present here to-night will bear me
out when I say that we tried our level best to give
the Club a sound and solid foundation, I for one
can say but little about this Club after this long
interval since I ceased to be an active member. I
am almost a stranger to the present generation and
these in turn are strangers to the very difficult
conditions of society prevailing in 1918 when the
Club was started. Differences in social habits were then
more acute and a general levelling up took some
time, for example we had to provide separate tables
at Club dinners to respect the scruples of different
castes and communities, at the earlier stages. The
times have changed since. Besides this, we depended
a great deal on official support and guidance.

CENTURY CLUB SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION 153 -

The Club has entered into its manhood. When
I left it in 1926 in its adolescent stage, it was
exerting its youthful spirit of independence against
the purely official atmosphere due to the patronage
of Government under whose auspices the Club wa&
started. The controversy about drinks and the
question of admitting ladies created much stir in
sensitive quarters at the time.

Tonight I miss, as do the members of my
generation, many genial and kindly faces that we shall
see no more. We warmly congratulate those that
are still with us, specially Mr. Raghavendra Rap,
and welcome the influx of fresh blood and of youth
and vigour. The very large increase of membership-
shows its growing popularity. The beautiful Club-
House which is a lasting memento of the interest
Sir Mirza Ismail, the Ex-Dewan, took in the Club^
and its setting on the ground of the lovely Cubbon
Park, are blessings for which we have to be thankful
to the Government of His Highness the Maharaja
of Mysore.

Before proceeding further, I would like to wel-
come on your behalf our distinguished guests who
have kindly consented to be present here tonight.^
The Hon’ble the British Resident, Mr. Phillips,,
President Roosevelt’s Special Envoy to India, and
Sir M. Visvesvaraya. It is he who should have
presided and taken the honours tonight. Hia
presence is of great inspiration for he is the Father

164 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMKKA

as well as the God-Father of this Club. It is an
honour to us to have them with us tonight and take
part of this banquet celebrating the Silver Jubilee.
To Sir M. Visvesvaraya we accord a special wel-
come as he was the President-Founder of this Club,
which is an important landmark amongst several
other achievements of his administration in the
Mysore State as Dewan.

I stand before you today not as an ex-Dewan
or a former President, but as an ordinary citizen
returning to Bangalore after years of travel all over
the world, studying human nature and institutions,
specially club life in Great Britain, on the Continent
of Europe, the United States of America and the
British possessions of the Far East, not to leave out
Mexico where in spite of diverse races and colours
there is no prejudice of any kind amongst different
communities all of which, irrespective of origin, form
a part and parcel of the country and its peoples.

Clubs as you know, came into vogue in England
early in the eighteenth century where notables in
the society of art, literature, drama gathered
together. But social clubs really developed amongst
the British people in their Dependencies. I re-
member in the earlier days of my service, how British
Officers formed clubs in small moffusil stations with
just a few members representing the Revenue, the
Police and the Church. An Englishman forms
a club even in an island.

CENTURY CLUB SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION 155

The institution of Indian Clubs in this country
which after all is of British origin owes much of its
success to British tradition and much of its failure
to the defects inherent in the constitution and
mentality as we find amongst the Europeans in this
country. Their exclusiveness has widened the breach
between the British and Indian social relations
during the past half a century. This is not the time
nor the occasion to refer to this question in detail.

The British people introduced a caste system in
their club life and the system of black-balling those
that did not come up to their class, even amongst
themselves not to speak of Indians. We have
imitated this to our disadvantage. On the other
hand we have tried to imitate the institution of mixed
clubs and in most places we have, in spite of our
social difficulties, admitted ladies to our clubs, and
as regards other amenities such as games, sports
and refreshments, we have entirely followed the
British pattern combating those scruples which
stood in our way for the past half a century against
inter-dining. As regards having drinks and treat-
ing others, it is a good British custom which we have
followed. We have also adopted the black tie and
dinner jacket as the standard male club attire making
room for a diversity of custom in dress, some of which
are not quite suitable for modem ideas.

My experience in foreign countries of club
life, especially in America, leads me to think that we

166 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

can learn many things from that country. Their
wonderful atmosphere of social equality and com-
radeship, their cultural activities in the spheres of
art, music, literature, the Bon-homi of members
irrespective of class distinctions and the participa-
tion of ladies, are special features fit to be emulated.
Sports being highly specialised and having also a
professional side to it, have been kept apart in clubs
of their own, and there are several grades of such
clubs to suit the pockets of the different grades of
people in a country where the standard of
living is high, and yet the desire for social intercourse
in all forms of social activities is great amongst all
American peoples. I have visited the clubs of New
York, such as the Century Club, the Twenty Club and
and the Country Clubs in the Middle East and in
the West, specially in Hollywood and Los Angeles.
I had the hospitality of many clubs in the United
States and became a temporary member of a few
thus showing that even foreigners are hail fellows
well met, irrespective of the country they come from.
In London, I belonged to the Royal Societies Club,
one of the oldest, the Royal Empire Society Club
und also formed an International Club in Richmond.
I co-operated with Sir Evlyn Wrench in his efforts
to establish an All-Peoples Association as a non-
political Social Club and enjoyed the hospitality of
many other clubs such as the National Liberal, the
Carlton, Athsenium, where I watched the mentality

CENTURY CLUB SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION 167

of the club-going people who were divided into
interesting social groups.

This is not the time nor the occasion to touch
on politics nor the acute communal problem facing
us in India today, or the tug-of-war between the
influence and stiff-necked attitude of officials, the
resentment and self-sufficiency of non-officials, a new
feature in our social life. We have to look back to
the days when such a club was not possible to organise
and take pride in the fact that our social conditions
have advanced on liberal lines to admit of the club
instinct to grow amongst us. Old prejudices are
dying out. But while we have learnt to eat and
drink together and have refreshments at the same
table, we have to guard against a few dangers that
might prejudice the growth of club life in this country.
We should think as Indians in the first place, and
respect the scruples and susceptibilities of others.
We have our communal prejudices which club life
alone can extinguish. We have our masculine
superiority complex which only club life can elimi-
nate. We have a premium set on official positions
which only club life can destroy, and lastly : we have
learnt a spirit of exclusiveness and a desire to ex-
ercise individual rights and privileges to the detri-
ment of a common social atmosphere which only club
life can foster.

A few suggestions therefore coming from one
who was associated with this club in its earlier stages

168 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

and who has since travelled far and wide may not
be taken amiss. Firstly we have to adapt our con-
stitution to the changed conditions of modem life.
We should be neither too democratic nor encourage
dictatorship. Small cliques and cotories have to
be discouraged and while the freedom of the in-
dividual must be safeguarded, a club community
consciousness must be developed through a strong
representative committee, which when once ap-
pointed should be given full executive powers both
as regards membership and general control.

In India a new social order is in the making
in which differences between officials and non-
officials, between class and creed are slowly giving
way to a spirit of toleration and mutual understand-
ing. The co-operation of ladies who are now all
over India taking a leading part in social and poli-
tical movements, must be secured at all costs and
towards this end our Indian clubs, specially the
Century Club which has a good tradition and is
older than many, should provide special facilities
and also invest lady members with a dignified status
in the club organisation. My experience shows
that wherever women have a legitimate place in
clubs, they exercise a healthy influence and also
promote a proper understanding in social relation-
ships. Lastly Indian Clubs should not be places
where we can only eat and drink together and have
sports. Club activity should include entertainments.

CENTURY CLUB SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION 169

coQcerts, lectures and the club-house provide lounges,
lecture halls and a stage with a dancing hall. Com-
fortable quiet corners for those needing rest, a quiet
chat with friends and reading should be provided
for with a good library.

In this time of war it is the duty of all clubs to
open their doors and be hospitable to the Indian
officers of the fighting forces many of whom have no
where to go, and also to the large number of cadets
who are under training in Bangalore without
insisting on the formality of regular elections.
This, as you know, is done in most of the big clubs
in India today and we may follow suit.

I must not miss the opportunity of making a brief
reference to post-war reconstruction about which we
hear so much today. India must take its proper place
in any scheme or plan and, has the power to do
it. This has to be done by team-work consisting of
industrial and economic experts in touch with
world problems in closest co-operation with the
United Nations. If India is relegated to a subordinate
position and made a victim of so-called scientific
capitalism or rational socialism without giving it
a fair chance or voice, the peace of the world will
be in grave danger. Mysore has played and is
playing a great part today, and Mysore’s co-ope-
ration not merely in any Indian but also in world
economic planning will be the greatest asset for the
future.

160 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

In conclusion, I hope I may be pardoned for
my outspokenness and will end my speech with a
quotation from the Essays of Montaigne on social
intercourse :

“Life is an unequal, irregular, multi-form
movement. To follow incessantly one’s own
inclinations to be so held by them as not to
be able to deviate from them or twist them out
of their course, is to be not our own friend,
still less our master, but our own slave.”

I now give you the Toast of the Century Club.
May it live long and continue in its useful career.

Contribution to ^Tederal India and Indian States^^
on “ Post-War Problems of Indian States ”

June 1943

A few extracts from Chapter X on Ruling
Princes of my book The Indian Tangle, published in
London nearly ten years ago, will be a fitting
introduction to the subject now looming large in
the minds of the Princes and the intelligent
section amongst their subjects, at the present
time. Although the observations now quoted have
special reference to the question of All-India
Federation, including the Indian States as envisaged
in the Act of 1935, they are relevant so far as the
complicated problems connected with the Federal
structure of the future — or any other alternatives
such as the Union of India to be explained later —
is concerned. The extracts are these.

“We have thus today over six hundred independent
political units in India, great and small, called Indian
States, which have all obtained their permanence, and
security from the British Government under separate
treaties, sanads and agreements. These States re-
present every aspect and phase of Indian history
and life. The Princes of Rajaputana can claim
genealogies dating back into the mythical ages and
represent the tradition of Hindu chivalry. In South
India, the Rulers of Mysore, Cochin and Travancore
represent the descendants of the Aryan invaders
6

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from the north. Then there are the Mahratta
Rulers like Gaekwar and Scindia, who date from the
rise of the Mahratta power in the eighteenth
century. The Punjab States recall the great days
of Ranjit Singhji and the Sikh Corifederacy. The
Nizam of Hyderabad represents, with lesser Moha-
medan Rulers, those who survived the downfall of
Moslem supremacy. It is a characteristic feature that
in some of the important States, the rulers are neither
of the same race nor of the same creed as the
majority of their subjects. The conspicuous examples
are the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maharaja of
Kashmir.

“The States cover an area of 6,75,000 square
miles, and vary in size from a few square miles to-
a country as large as Italy, such as Hyderabad, with
a population of 14^ millions. They have come at
varying times under the suzerain authority of
the British Government through definite treaties
entered into with the Rulers individually. The status
and authority of these Princes was the subject of an
investigation by the Committed presided over by
Sir Harcourt Butler in 1928. In concluding the
Report, the Conunittee said:

‘While impressed with the need for great caution
in dealing with a body so heterogeneous as the
Indian Princes, so conservative, so sensitive,
so tenacious of internal sovereignty, we con-
fess, that our imagination is powerfully^ affected

“ POST-WAR PROBLEMS OF INDIAN STA TES " 163

by the stirring of new life and new hopes in the
States, by the progress achieved and by the possi-
bilities of the future.’

“The problem of the Indian States is not merely
one of defining the status of Indian Princes with
reference to the Paramount Power, but chiefly, if
not entirely, the adjustment of relations between the
Government of India as such and the Government
of the Indian States. The important fact that the
position and status of the Rulers does not provide
a complete solution is often overlooked. The con-
stitutional reforms in British India have materially
influenced public opinion in the Indian States, and
created a keen desire on the part of the subjects of
the Princes to take a larger share in the administra-
tion of their country. The conflict in most States
between the autocratic power of the Ruler and the
claim of subjects to transfer at least a part of this
authority to constitutional agencies, is keener today
than ever in the past.

“Various questions which arise from the
position and status of the Indian Princes themselves
have necessarily to be outside the jurisdiction of any
Federal Government or Union that may be set up.
They include minority administration, training of heirs,
the civil lists, foreign travel. State budget and finance,
palace and military and personal conduct of Ruling
Princes. The Princes played a great part in the first
Round Table Conference by agreeing to come into the

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Federal Scheme and thus surrendering their position
of isolated grandeur and internal sovereignty up to
a certain point. Their attitude of co-operation in
the work of framing the new constitution rendered
it possible for the Conference to come to a
unanimous resolution regarding Responsibility
at the Centre with safeguards and reservations.
But no section of the Conference at the time fully
realised the implications and obligations involved
before the Federal Structure could be built on a
solid foundation. The result, as I then anticipated,
was a cleavage of opinion between various groups
representing the Indian States, one standing for the
Federal India and the other championing a system
of Confederation of States”.

Lessons of Past Experience

Past experience shows that the more the Federal
idea was pressed, the more were the problems that
arose, with reference to the Sovereignty, Status, etc., of
States in relation to firstly, the Paramount Power,
and secondly, to the British Indian Provinces. The
Federal idea was suspended soon after the war
broke out, and it is doubtful if ever it will be revived
in its original form when the future constitution
of India is to be framed almost de novo, with special
reference to post-war problems of reconstruction.
Right now, we have the Muslim League cry for
Pakistan. The Hindu Mahasabha, the minorities.

"POST-WAR PROBLEMS OF INDIAN STATES ” 16&

not to speak of the Congress, oppose it. The Cripps
proposals did not consider the Indian States and
they were more or less put in the background. The
present political deadlock and other happenings in
British and Indian India gave little hope for settle-
ment. But there is no reason why constructive
schemes should not be considered during the war, by
all parties concerned. There are so many put forward
now that deserve attention. How they can be brought
on the anvil of discussion is a matter for the Princes
and the British Indian political leaders to agree upon.
It cannot be denied that the summoning of a Consti-
tuent Assembly before the termination of the war,
will be a right solution, for many things may happen
in Indian politics in the interval which will make
the Indian Tangle more complicated than ever.

Those who have read Clarence Streit’s book
Union Now, published in 1939 before the war broke
out, may remember that he advocated the establish-
ment of a Federal Government, by the people of
fifteen Democracies in Europe and America includ-
ing the British Empire. India was excluded in this
scheme as it was not a full-fledged democracy. If
such a union had been created and India included
therein with full Dominion Status, it is doubtful
whether Hitler could have had his way, in regard
to his lust for world domination.

Countries enjoying full independence have not
been able to retain it, or their territorial integrity

166 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

in the present war, as the Ixague of Nations had
no effective machinery by way of an international
Police Force, or Equity Tribunal.

The religious cleavage in India is intensified
by the constitution of India into a single State. If
India were a group of States, the religious factor
would be eliminated by making each group a Domi-
nion, based on racial, linguistic and religious
differences. The Government of India is surely a
British invention, and a scheme such as the Union
of India including Indian States as outlined below,
may help to reconcile Hindu-Muslim differences
and prevent the breaking up of India into fragments
when India gets Independence, with her present
political and geographical divisions.

The Indian States have remained distinct politi-
cal units under British Rule founded on treaties
and sanads and the two parts of India today present
a variegated coloured map in the Atlas.

One solution of the political problem of India
is the substitution of the Empire of India by a League
of Dominions, Kingdoms and Tribal Lands. Out
of what is known as British India, roughly thirteen
racially and linguistically homogeneous Dominions
could be constituted. Twelve or more of the princi-
pal Indian States could be raised to the rank of
Dominion. Outside the North-West Frontier, the
Punjab and the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
no less than eight racially and linguistically homo-

“ POST-WAR PROBLEMS OF INDIAN STA TES " 16T

geneous Dominions could be constituted. Bengal
might be made a Dominion with two auto-
nomous provinces so that the Hindus would form
one province and the Moslems the other.

The predominantly Moslem districts of the
United Provinces might be constituted into a Muslim
State with Lucknow as its capital and Urdu as the
official language, and the rest of the United Pro-
vinces may be constituted into a Hindu State with
Hindi as the official language. The North-West
Frontier Province should be united with the pre-
dominantly Moslem districts of the Punjab, and
constituted into a Moslem Dominion. The Lahore
Division would make a Dominion of Sikhs, and the
rest of the present Punjab could form a Hindu
Dominion.

The same principle can be applied to the Madras
Presidency by the redistribution of the areas under
Tamil, Telugu and Malayalee population. Thus, in
British India, the present cries of Pakistan, Dravidistan
and the other Stans could be harmonised and in the
New Order for British India, Autonomous Sovereign
States should be constituted as in the United States
of America — Dominions of South Africa and Canada.

Indian States must come into this Union
and will have to be made Dominions or grouped
together on the same principle. The recent scheme
of “Merger” which the Crown Representative intro-
duced for some of the smaller States of Kathiawar

168 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

can be applied more extensively throughout India
for the purpose of constituting a Union. Only
recently, the Viceroy of India advised the Chamber
of Princes to pool their sovereignty. In 1939, the
Political Department issued a circular asking all
States with an annual income of less than twenty
lakhs of rupees to join regional confederations.
Under the new order, it will be impossible for the
smaller States in India to exist economically as it
has to afford military and other protection to these
hundreds of small States. We have to consider
the respective merits of the ‘Merger’ and Confede-
ration Schemes, and whichever way the Indian India
is re-grouped into Dominions, we have got to guard
against the criticism that bigger States are being
organised as a Second Line of Defence against
India’s demand for freedom.

The Union idea based on the lines indicated
above, presupposes that each Dominion will be
economically self-sufficient and enjoy full autonomy
subject to its being linked up with a strong Federal
Government which will concern itself with the
defence of all-India, under arrangements with each
unit regarding contribution of man-power, raw
materials, harbour, shipping, trunk railways, tele-
graphs and wireless. Navy and Air Force.

The Indian States newly constituted as Domi-
nions and those grouped with others, will contribute
towards the Federal Army, Navy and Air Force

“ POST-WAR PROBLEMS OF INDIAN STA TES" 168

like the rest of the units in the Union in proportion
to the financial resources, man-power and need foi
protection against foreign aggression. In the Federal
Centre, there will be no Political Department as now,
but a Foreign Office and Economic Union, and also
an Equity Tribunal. It will be presided over by
a President and there will be a body of Ministers
chosen by election from candidates selected by each
autonomous Oominion who will form the Congress
of Delegates. Each Dominion may be left to form
its own constitution, unilateral or bicameral, based
on adult suffrage, and literacy. There is no need for
a standardised constitution for each State or Domi-
nion. Let each develop politically according to its
own bent. The State Dominions will have the Rulers
as Presidents with a hereditary title. Those that are
grouped or merged will have the senior-most Ruler
as the President, the others being given a seat in
the Senate of each Dominion Parliament.

The old order must give place to the new, and
those that stand for vested interests in any shape
or form and not for Government for the common
good of the people should know that their days are
numbered after this war. This applies to India as well.
If strife and struggle for power by certain sections
alone continue, there will surely be a revolt from
within which will make India a prey for more than
one generation to foreign aggression and exploitation.

F

Speech before the Rotary Clab, Bangalore, on
“ Place of India in the World to Come ”

July 1943

The subject is full of controversial points and
one must mind his p’s and q’s in talking about it,
and yet I must discharge the task I have under-
taken on myself to the best of my ability and know-
ledge.

The place of India in any future plan of world
reconstruction cannot be discussed without re-
viewing the place she holds today, not only within
the British Empire but also in the American conti-
nent, Europe and Asia. In one sense her position
today "is ah isolated one, unique in many respects
and full of potentialities for good or evil. As a
part of the British Empire she still holds a subordi-
nate position, and has yet to be an equal partner
with Great Britain and the other Dominions. There
is no need to dwell on this aspect of India’s recent
political history, which is a matter of common
knowledge throughout the world.

In European countries, the place that India
has held is one of luke-warm interest. In world
affairs so far as they could be judged from the pro-
ceedings of the League of Nations, since it was
established, India as a country did not exercise or
rather was not able to exercise any potent influence.
Individually, the noble sons of India raised her in

“ PLACE OF LATU/A IN THE WORU) TO COME" 17L

the estimation of the world at large by their achieve-
ments in the domain of literature, science and
valuable research in various fields, specially her
ancient civilisation as evidenced by recent archaeo-
logical discoveries. Apart from these, India’s
place is inferior in status and she doesn’t count for
much in any plan or scheme so far enunciated for
world reconstruction conceived by eminent thinkers.
That clearly shows want of recognition of India’s
place in the world or her true potentialities. Take
Steit for example who, in his famous book. Union
Now, published before the war, suggested a federa-
tion of fifteen democracies of the world, including
the British Empire but excluding India, on the
ground that India’s politically inexperienced
millions cannot be included on the same population
basis as the Western democracies. H. G. Wells
in his book. The New World Order, deliberately
excluded in his scheme Russia, India, Near and
Far East, as having very little to do in the creation
of a New World Order. He said:

“The establishment of a progressive world
socialism in which the freedom, health and
happiness of every individual are protected by
a universal law based on a re-declaration of
the rights of man, and wherein there is the
utmost liberty of thought, criticism and sugges-
tion, is the plain, rational objective before us
now.”

172 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Such is the European and Western conception of
the New World Order.

Even during the progress of the war, declara-
tions have been made by the President of the United
States and the British Prime Minister on the subject
of world reconstruction, which would justify the
belief that they were both speaking in terms of a
European Order and not World Order. The
Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration of both
these eminent statesmen and left a doubt if it applied
to India, though Mr. Churchill on a subsequent
occasion stated : “We have pledged by the declaration
of August 1940 to help India to obtain free and
equal partnership in the British Commonwealth
of Nations, subject of course to the fulfilment of
obligations arising from our long connection with
India and our responsibilities to its many creeds,
races and interests.” Then again, in the early
part of 1943, Mr. Churchill in a broadcast on the
Post-War Reconstruction said : “It will be our hope
that the United Nations headed by the British Com-
monwealth of Nations, U.S.A. and Soviet Russia
should immediately begin to confer upon the future
world organisation, which is to be our safeguard
against future wars.” He conceived the idea of
the Council of Europe and a Council of Asia, and
added that the permanent interests of Britain,
United States and Russia have to be harmonised.
In the world to come India has no definite future

“ PLACE OF INDIA IN THE WORLD TO COME" 173

foreshadowed by those who have started reconstruct-
ing the world in their own way. The point I wish
to make is that both in the United States and in
the British Commonwealth, the place that India
holds today is not one of very great consequence.

The place India has in other Asiatic countries
need not be described in detail, except that, being
independent, these countries naturally consider them-
selves higher in political status, as Egypt. Even
such countries as Hungary, the Balkans, also Turkey
labour under this impression. In the Scandinavian
countries, Indian culture attracts attention but not
her politics.

European countries like France and Holland,
which have large Colonial Empires, did not view with
favour India’s Nationalist Movement or her desire
for freedom. In South Africa the policy of discrimi-
nation against Indians, which even today has been
accentuated by the Pegging Act, shows the inferior
place India holds in that Union, even in war time.

In Japan, the attitude towards India has been
distinctly hostile to Indian Nationalism and its watch-
ful interest has been one of contempt of Indians
as being inferior, and hatred of British rule. She
has been attempting to gain an economic hold on
India in the first instance as part of a Pan-Asiatic
policy of her own.

The United States have had strange relations
in the past with India ; one of friendliness and

1 74 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

sympathy and yet a close eye upon the economic pos-
sibilities of an Indo-American understanding. Today
India attracts much attention in the U.S.A. and
we have had recently a special Envoy of President
Roosevelt— Mr. Phillips, to visit the country. For
what purpose in view, we have yet to know.

In concluding this review I quote the authority
of Sir Frederic Whyte to show that India has very
few real friends and is really isolated and apart from
the rest of the world. In his book. The Future of
East and West, he said: “India representing only
herself, is altogether a different world to which
Europeans find no easy access, and there is much
that other Asiatics neither value nor understand.
India is apart from the rest of the world including
most of Asia.” And yet, according to Sir George
Schuster, “India cannot live to herself or work out
her own future untroubled from the outside world.
In Jawaharlal Nehru’s book. Unity of India, he said
“ there can be no world arrangement which is based
on ignoring India or China”.

This brings us again to the main question what
place India is to have in the world to come. No
one can picture what the world will be after this
war, whether politically there will be a federation
in the West as well as in the East to prevent future
wars and how the Axis Powers will be dealt with.
We have no doubt, many expositions of our war
and peace aims and many schemes. But every

“ PLACE OF INDIA IN TNE WORLD TO COMB " 176

cupboard has a skeleton and there is no country
which has not any domestic problem that may shake
the very foundation of a stable understanding at
the Peace Conference. The U.S.A. has her colour
problem, her titanic struggle between labour and
capital, the aftermath of her lease and lend policy
and the economic crisis that is to follow in
the wake of a devastated Europe, millions of un-
employed men and women, shortage of food and
other necessaries of life in all the liberated countries.
Britain has her own domestic problems of Capital-
ism versus Labour, her Indian problem, her fear
of Communism and her colonial possessions in which
their population is pulsating with a new life. In
addition, she is greatly concerned with the future
of lost possessions in Malaya and Burma when re-
conquered. France and Holland have their problems
relating to their big Colonial Empire. There are
the problems of several minority nations in Central
Europe, and lastly, the future relationship of Soviet
Russia with the other countries of Europe and Asia
including Iraq, Persia and Afghanistan. In the
opinion of some, Russia is sure to exercise great
influence in framing post-war reconstruction schemes
for Europe as well as Asia. Can her permanent interests
be reconciled with those of Great Britain and
U.S.A.? Finally, China when liberated from the
Japanese aggression is sure to take her proper place
in a Federation of Pacific States to which reference

176 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

was made by a Chinese Ambassador in a broaacasr
on “The Family of Nations”. He said; “The
future world government should be a super-federa-
tion of some regional set-ups as the League of Europe,
the Confederation of American States, the British
Commonwealth, the Confederation of Pacific States,
the Confederation of Western and South-Western
Asiatic States.” He does not specifically mention India,

Will India emerge after the war from all these
spheres of conflict, competition and confusion as a
free country collaborating on equal terms with the
United Nations at the Peace Conference ? What part
will India and China play in the future re-adjustment
of relationship between East and West between Europe
and Asia ? These are questions to which I cannot give
clear answers. This much, however, is certain.
Agreements and reconciliation between rival interests
in each country or group of countries will be diffi-
cult to reach. As an inferior nation, India will be
handicapped as a member of the Peace Conference
in the settlement of world problems unless she is
given an independent status.

We in India stand to lose everything unless
we endeavour to bring into existence a Union of
India with an independent status holding equal
partnership with the Reconstructed British Common-
wealth and other Unions. Now is the time to
think and act and take constructive steps to secure
her future place in the world to come.

"PLACE OF INDIA IN THE WORLD TO COME" 177

The internal situation in India, it is true, is not
entirely of our own making but the want of unity
which has stood in the way of any permanent satis-
factory settlement has become almost a world
problem. Pearl Buck only recently at Montreal
said: “There will be no peace unless it is built upon
the primary conception of equality of all mankind.
Moslems, Hindus and all others, you must under-
take this for the sake of this world because
this quarrel between you has become a quarrel
affecting the freedom of all peoples. You must
find ways of coming together. The damage
done must be undone by proving that India can
be united where differences can be accepted and
allowed without quarrel or destruction.” It is an
axiomatic truth that no country can secure for itself
freedom to work out its own destiny regardless
of the policies of other countries. Wireless trans-
mission, the speeding up of transport, the develop-
ment of air travel and rail connections, will re-
volutionise the economic and social life of the
people and the world. In the struggle between
democracy and totalitarianism, India’s future hope
lies in the ultimate victory of democracy if she is
to find her proper place in the New World in alliance
with the two pillars of democracy, the United States
of America and Great Britain.

A general agreement as to the economic policy
and defence must be reached throughout the world

178 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

with India as an equal partner. This presupposes
a Federal Centre through a political Union of a
group of countries allied together geographically,
culturally and by natural instincts. We will have
to reconsider Streit’s scheme of “Union Now” in a
different light.

What are the alternatives before India, when
the New World Order comes into being ? The
new European Order whether it be a federation of
nations or a new League with effective powers, will
give sufficient incentive to individual European
nations to come into a group that suits their own
traditional as well as racial inclinations, but what
about Asia ? Some fear that a treaty between the
U.S.A. and Great Britain will establish a formidable
Union, and as between the two there will be a
tug-of-war as to which one succeeds in directing
the policy of the New World Order, especially in
countries yet to be exploited, for raw materials.
Will India have a fair deal when she sets about
framing the new constitution ? Recently, the well-
known Editor, Mr. John Jessup, in an article in
Life, said : “Asia’s distrust of Britain is one of the
circumstances which will be a danger to the United
States when she gets wedded to Great Britain’s
Asiatic Policy including the policy for India.
The only way the white man can rehabilitate his
reputation in Asia is to share this Asian eagerness
for full independence.” Thus we see that whichever

“ PLACE OF INDIA IN THE WORLD TO COMB ” 17 &

way influence of these two democracies may make
itself felt, India will be between the devil and the
deep sea, unless she can get definite guarantee from
Great Britain as regards her pledges to give her
freedom, and then only it will be possible for her
to go into the British Commonwealth of Nations
as the only group of countries in which she can find
a safe and honourable place. At all events, a great
deal will depend on the part India and China
are allowed to play in the future relations between
East and West and between Europe and Asia.
Unity of purpose between these two countries will
solve the Japanese problem. It will also make
Great Britain as a leading partner in the British
Commonwealth realise that she has to adopt a new
policy for her Dominions and for her Colonies and
particularly for India, if she wants to keep all her
friends together without conflict or jealousy as be-
tween her own group and the other groups in Europe
and the Trans-Atlantic countries which will no doubt
be led by U.S.A. as the head of the Pan-American
Group.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, soon after the war
was declared, stressed the importance of dealing
with the Indian problems as an international one,
and in this he is right. But does he give sufficient
importance to the necessity of imity in India within
herself without which she cannot be reckoned with,
even now during the war or after? Foreign writers

180 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

are trying to impress upon us this paramount need.
According to Schuster whom I have already quoted,
the two bastions of Western civilisation must be
the British Commonwealth and the United States
and the bastions in the East must be India and China.
When the new constitution of India is going to be
framed a provision for international sphere of action
to preserve peace as between the two groups should
be made. It would take a long time after the war,
for Europe to revive and do anything economically
substantial to contribute towards world peace in the
future.

In conclusion, my suggestion is, we must at the
earliest moment settle Hindu-Moslem differences,
reconstruct our Hindu social system, remove the
rigours of caste and social injustice, also poverty of
the masses by constructive schemes and plans spread
over a number of years. If we claim equality for
ourselves, we must have equality amongst different
creeds, communities, and castes in India, then only
will India be able to hold her proper place in the
Council of Nations for reconstruction after the war.

Speech before the Athenaeum Club, Jaipur, on
“ Post-War Reconstruction with Special
Reference to India ”

December 1943

Post-war reconstruction is almost a hackneyed
phrase but owing to the colossal magnitude of its
problems unprecedented in world history, it is puzzl-
ing the peoples of the world and their Leaders. But
before one can arrive at any practical scheme of
reconstruction so called, it is necessary to assess if
it is at all possible with any accuracy, the damage
that will be caused morally and materially at the end
of the war to the Allied and United Nations as well
as the enemy countries and those occupied by them
now, even when liberated, and the moral and
material rehabilitation of nations that will have to
be undertaken. Some lessons can also be gained
from the history of Europe during two decades
after the declaration of peace at the end of the last
war, and a closer study of the aftermath which over-
whelmed Europe and even the U.S.A. — the richest
and most economically prosperous country in the
world at that time. We all know how the prognos-
tications of most political and economic sooth-
sayers were falsified.

The economic crisis which overtook most
countries in 1921, continued until 1939 when the
present war broke out. Russia alone stood isolated.

182 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

distrusted and misjudged and began reconstruction
after the revolution which has produced results that
will remain the marvel of world history of the
twentieth century. Unemployment in England
reached a maximum of nearly three million. Sweden
hitherto an economically prosperous country
crashed after the fall of Krueger, her exports dwindled
and Scandinavian countries were faced with the
loss of export trade, shipping was paralysed. In
the United States economic depression reached its
lowest level soon after 1926. France was torn by
political intrigue and corruption and suffered from loss
of economic prosperity. Germany embittered, defied
the Versailles -Treaty and began rearming in deadly
earnest and conserved her economic re-sources. The
League of Nations proved impotent to enforce its
decisions. The fear of living possessed the people
of Europe for twenty years since 1919, stirred up
unrest, bitterness and a sense of despair. Cities
and ports were divided up. Thousands of kilo-
metres of custom barriers were set up. A bitter
economic war lasted for many years between
Poland and Germany. Every country claimed some
part from its adjacent neighbours. Hungary was
dismembered, and a newly created State of Poland
and Czechoslovakia came into being. Yugoslavia
and Italy were at logger heads. Bulgaria became
the hotbed of unrest in the Balkans. Dictatorships
sprang up in Greece, Yugoslavia and finally in Italy

SPEECH BEFORE THE ATHEN^UM CLUB, JAIPUR 183

and Germany where Fascism and national socialism
of the most aggressive type came into existence under
Mussolini and Hitler, threatening democracy itself.
Economic units were destroyed irrespective of ties
and interdependence. Nothing was done for pro-
duction and peace investments. Large loans were in-
curred through Allied help for re-armament purposes.
New currencies were created. Instead of free exchange
of goods there were foreign currency restrictions.
Industries were strangled. Many Central European
Banks failed in 1931. There were four thousand
of miles of customs boundaries which strangled trade.
There was a fall in wages as well as in the standard
of living. Countries lacking of labour were for-
bidden immigration of foreign workers. Unemploy-
ment figures rose by leaps and bounds (6 million
in all). These were the results of post-war re-
construction after the last War. We can surely
take a lesson right now and ponder what will be
the nature of world conditions at the end of the
present war.

Generally speaking, there was no freedom of
movement of labour, or utilisation of labour released
after the war. On the other hand, restrictions of im-
port and exports, inflation of currency and no
international agreement for working hours or the
utilisation of raw materials of undeveloped countries
on an international basis. In, other words, nation-
alism in its worst form brought about an economic

184 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

crisis of the first magnitude. As far as one can
see it is not so difficult to picture the world condi-
tions after the present war. Firstly, the appalling
loss of life can be counted in millions. In Russia
alone, according to one estimate, it is already 10
million. The total amongst Allied nations including
civilians and persons perished will be probably as
large, if not larger, when all the lives lost in air raids
are included with those lost from starvation under
Nazi and Japanese persecution. Consider the
scorched earth policy, destruction of valuable natu-
ral resources and the productive possibility of long-
established industries, the destruction of property
by air raids in big cities needing wholesale recon-
struction and rebuilding on a big scale (e.g., London).
From where will the materials be forthcoming,
especially in impoverished countries ? Future plans
of reconstruction must face the spread of diseases
such as Typhus and Tuberculosis, loss of power of
resistance against disease through starvation and
high mortality amongst women, children, the aged
and the weak. It is foreshadowed by exports that
our defeated enemies along will have health and
stamina. A grim outlook indeed.

The natural resources of Allied countries used
up to make bombs and bullets which will all be shot
away and tanks, planes and ships, which may not
return, will leave them all the poorer. There will
be a great shortage of food and raw materials for

SPEECH BEFORE THE A THENMUM CLUB, JAIPUR 185

basic industries such as high grade ore, even copper,
oil resources, timber, etc. Even the United States
are wondering if she will be self-supporting after
the war. What about England ? Her Dominions
and Colonies and lastly India which is giving all she
can towards the war efforts ?

Morally and educationally there will be a set-
back, loss of eminent scientists, experts and inventors,
interruption of studies amongst the youth of every
country through conscription and the restoration
of normal life will present difficult problems. The
number of women employed when demobilised will
return home with a different outlook with reduced
prospects of marriage and happy home life.

Post-war reconstruction has to be tackled on
a global basis just as the global war. It cannot be
based on nationalism but established on internation-
alism. The world will be very much closer knit
together and no small nation will exist without
security guaranteed with international co-operation
or help. Even India and China will have to follow
the international principles of co-ordination and
co-operation. In India the post-war reconstruc-
tion schemes should not be based on the territorial
division basis, but co-ordinated for all the Provinces
and States. Some kind of political and economic
union has to be thought of in regard to her con-
stitution and her future place in the New World
Order.

18 (! THKOUGH an INDIAN CAMERA

Internally, the first problem in India is
a co-ordinated scheme for the whole sub-continent.
Conserving our natural resources, increasing food
production, combating disease and a low power of
resistance are fundamental problems of national
improvement in India. On the top of it co-ordinated
research for industrial development on a big scale is
essential. These are ever constant Indian problems
that only will have to be viewed from a new angle.

It may also be necessary for India to group
herself with several countries for international co-
operation such as China, Persia and the Middle
East. The economic policy of Great Britain will
greatly affect India’s future attitude towards the
British Commonwealth. If it is to be no longer
exploitation but give and take, there is some hope
of harmonious reconstruction. The United States
also will be a big factor specially under the Lease
and Lend arrangement, and what reparations, refunds
and compensations she will claim for herself from
the Allies and the defeated belligerents is still an
open question.

Railways and Airways will have to be national-
ised for the whole of India, so also customs,
tariffs, exports and imports. Harbour and ship-
ping will have to be developed. If each country
prepares its own scheme for reconstruction it will
never be put into practice. Similarly, if each Pro-
vince or State in India prepares its own scheme it

SPEECH BEFORE THE ATHENMUM CLUB, JAIPUR 1«7

will be found unworkable. Ths world problems
will be similar in character and will have to be faced
standing on the ground of basic needs for the
maintenance of human civilisation and rehabilitat-
ing the damage that will be brought about by the
ravages of the present ruthless war.

So far as India is concerned, fortunately for
her she has not experienced the severe trials due to
war conditions of European countries or China,
either in loss of life, property or general dislocation
of her economic life, though dangers are ahead.
But amidst all the sacrifices she is making for the
war effort, she has to be ready and work out a
co-ordinated reconstruction plan. Internally her
agriculture and transport and basic industries will
have to be reconstructed on a large scale, side by
side with a big drive to improve the living conditions
of the people, public health and medical care plans
for millions living in rural parts suffering from
low power of resistance and malnutrition. India
should aim at self-sufficiency of food. The earning
capacity of the population per head should be raised
with a higher standard of living. Capital and
labour have to be brought under a basis of co-
operation not exploitation. These are no doubt
the standing problems of India of national well-
being but they will be more pressing and urgent
when peace comes or else the Bengal tragedy may
be repeated without the slightest warning.

188 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

Lastly, we must start collecting all*India statis-
tics regarding food supplies, consumption per head
under the principal classes of food available, death
from starvation, output of large industries for war
purposes, their future stability and development.
Mobilisation of man-power for defence and in-
dustrial development, plans for utilisation of labour
released from army and war industries to face large-
scale unemployment have to be undertaken. Present
cost of living and lastly, the purchasing power
of Indian currency with its relation to foreign ex-
change of post-war economy, public debt and capital
investment will all have to be investigated.

Without adequate data which is lacking in
this country, no reconstruction plan can be other-
wise than based on theory. There will also be some
new problems such as disposal of foreign nationals,
refugees and evacuees from Europe, Burma and
Malaya, etc. In conclusion, I should like to em-
phasise the importance of time factor and urge a
full realisation of the present and future dangers.
If we all, both in British India and the Indian
States, can be ready for action and not leave things
to the eleventh hour, there is some hope that the
whole country may have a proper understanding
of post-war reconstruction as a whole.

Speech at the Century Cluh
Congratulating Recipients of Mysore Honours
August 1944

This gathering tonight is of unique importance
showing as it does social solidarity amongst the club
community, desirous of honouring those to whom
honour is due, regardless of caste, community, re-
ligion or profession. We have under the British
system of honours the V.C. and other military titles
bestowed on soldiers, peerage, baronetcy, knight-
hoods and other two or three letter honours to
statesmen, business magnates and officials. People
are still inclined to form cliques and groups to follow
a system of caste in this respect and do hero worship
within their own group or circle.

Tonight we are gathered together to congratulate
those amongst the members of our Club who have
been singly marked by Royal favour that bestowed
upon them princely recognition for public services
well done. I do not wish to make invidious dis-
tinction by mentioning names, but wish my observa-
tions to be taken as applicable to all our distinguish-
ed recipients.

The custom of conferring rewards and honours
is of ancient origin and prevailed even amongst the
Romans. Montaigne in his essays says :

“It was a pretty idea, and has been accept-
ed in most of the eovemments of the world.

190 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

to institute certain marks as an honour and
reward of virtue, such as wreaths of laurel, oak,
and myrtle, a garment fashioned in a certain way,
the privilege of riding through the town in a
coach or of being preceded by a torch by night,
some particular seat in the public assemblies,
the prerogative of bearing certain surnames
and titles, a certain distinction in the coat of
arms, and similar things, which have prevailed
and still prevail in different degrees according
to the notions prevalent in different nations.”
The Mysore titles called Bermdas or Mana-
maryadas have, I believe, an ancient origin but
were actually renewed in 1892 and take the forms
of titles, decorations, souvenirs, medals, killats, etc.,
presented in true Oriental fashions in Palace Durbars
— a very impressive function indeed.

The European custom is affixing titles to names
except peerages, and the Indian custom is prefixing
titles to names. One does not know which is better,
i.e., to have a long tail or a bigger frontage ! In
the United States of America they do not know
the meaning of alphabetical letters after names,
and as the most modern democratic country they
•do not follow the custom of conferring honours.
As we all know, they prefer Mr. to Esq., in
addressing individuals, and as regards the prefix
of Sir, they often regard it with ridicule and
.amusement.

CONGRATULATING RECIPIENTS OF HONOURS 191

There are naturally two opinions about honours,
one to make much of them and the other to belittle
their importance. I think the middle view is the
correct attitude though even governments can over-
do the thing for party reasons as was once com-
plained of in England.

It is strange and somewhat significant that
Prime Ministers of England like Lloyd George^
Ramsay MacDonald and even the present Prime
Minister Winston Churchill have not coveted
or received honours though they have had the gift
of such things in their hands. Even Gladstone
died unhonoured and many such examples can be
quoted in English political history. So long as
honours do not bestow undue privileges for gain in
the social community, they are an incentive to honest
and meritorious service. Such is the case na
doubt in Mysore. Honours are often exploited for
political purpose in England, and even bought in
some cases as power is attached to them. But such
instances should not arise in democracy and that
is why in the U.S.A. where money plays such a
tremendous part in social and political life, honours
are not the custom for they are likely to be abused
and lead to corruption and tyranny.

Coming nearer home, Mysore has the unique
distinction in India of having instituted the grant
of Royal favour in the form of suitable titles not
stereotyped or put in watertight compartments but

192 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

flexible to suit individual cases, a flexibility that
gives a wider latitude in selection for meritorious
services when recognised by the Sovereign and the
nature of the souvenir accompanying it.

We are proud to have amongst the members of this
Club so many who have received such recognition in
various fields of activity and we convey to them our
congratulations and best wishes. We wish for them
higher honours to come and to give an incentive to
others to emulate their example.

One thing is remarkable and that is this —
there is no jealousy or cynicism about the confer-
ment of honours by H. H. the Maharaja of Mysore
nor wrangling and manauvring for them — a habit
prevalent, I am sorry to say, in British India. There
is no value in honours when they are sought through
back stairs influence. They should come unasked
but unfortunately the privilege coming in the wake
of some honours make them a marketable commo-
dity. However, we may rightly say that govern-
ments and nations should make the institution of
rewards to their citizens an efficacious method of
encouraging honest and faithful service to their
country and its peoples. In this res ect Mysore sets
.a good example. With these words I give you the
toast of health, prosperity and success to the gentle-
men whom we are honouring here tonight.

Letter to the “ Times of India, ”

“ What Next ? ”

October 1944

The reaction in India after the breakdown
of the Gandhi-Jinnah talks amongst many influential
personages as well as the press, has been given
wide publicity during the past few days, and
it may be considered that no useful purpose will
be served by adding to the opinions expressed by
all sections in the Indian political field. I am, how-
ever, anxious to lay emphasis on certain aspects
not as yet referred to in the comments already
published.

The general conclusion of the man-in-the
street, who is not politically minded and who views
the whole matter from a commonsense point of
view is, that these discussions instead of clarifying
the issues have made them more confounded than
ever, bringing forth technical and constitutional
difficulties almost insoluble. Secondly, the chances
of a general agreement between the Congress and
the Muslim League have become extremely remote
and whether any negotiations between these two
parties can be revived with any hope of success is
a question to which there can, I think, be but one
answer. Thirdly, it is almost certain that the Bri-
tish Government will not raise their Httle finger to
make a gesture to remove the political deadlock

7

194 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

till the war is over, and as such, the Indian politi-
cal situation is in danger of suffering steady deterio-
ration during the next year or two.

Under these circumstances what are the duties
of other leaders of India outside the Congress circle,
and the Muslim League, some of whom were in
close touch with Mr. Gandhi when the discussions
began ? Should they not now meet and try to bring
together all the interested parties, and would it not
be desirable to convene an All-Parties Conference
similar to the one that was held during the last war
under the chairmanship of the late Mr. Motilal
Nehru? I make this suggestion as a non-partisan
and a layman who does not claim to be a politician.
Mr. Gandhi himself suggested an arbitration to
settle the differences between him and Mr. Jinnah.
If something is not done immediately by the Indian
people through their accredited leaders in every
section of political opinion and interest, I fear there
is going to be a serious set-back in the Indian situa-
tion, a set-back that may possibly lead to conse-
quences too dreadful to contemplate. It is well to
ponder over the words used by Mr. Gandhi — “ War
to the knife ” — ^which should serve as a grave warning
to those who have, I believe, the power to avert a
great national disaster.

stray 'Iboughts on “ Power Politics ”

1944

What is Power Politics ? It is a term of expres-
sion that has come into vogue since Dictatorships
appeared in the region of political activity in some
of the countries of Europe. Those who are the
pioneers so to speak of power politics, sprang from
nowhere to begin with, were insignificant persons
found in disgrace in the eyes of their fellow-beings
who in the exercise of authority vested in them at
that time, persecuted them, tried to limit their acti-
vities and put them in restraint. All these tendencies
to oppose power politics only aggravated their
characteristics. These we see in the case of Musso-
lini and Hitler in a particular manner.

But Power Politics has a wider significance.
Democracy has never been used for the purpose
of exercising power with brute force, but Power
Politics has become the philosophy of those who
believe in the exercise of power through certain
political doctrines of their own. which by propa-
ganda and constant preaching, they expect to spread
amongst the great masses of people. When I was
in Germany and Hitler was then not so very power-
ful, but trying to consolidate National Socialism as
a creed fit for the Germans to adopt, he went about
the country like a demagogue lecturing to the
yoimg students, businessmen, scientists, university

196 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

graduates, and I do not know whether he even could
have imagined in his wildest dreams that he would
be a great power over the whole length and breadth
of Germany as the leader of Nazism. Power Politics
has for its foundation political theories to be
applied for the purpose of galvanising a nation with
the threat of using power against those who are
unwilling to follow the creed. This we have seen
exemplified in the Fascist countries as well as in
Soviet Russia and lastly in Nazi Germany.

If Democracy has now proved that it would
not hold the youthful generation today with the same
tight grip as in the past, some other instrument of
Government is slowly taking its place, and it has
taken a three-fold aspect or form, viz., Bolshevism,
Nazism and Fascism. Power Politics prevail in all
the three creeds of political philosophy. Where
Democracy still prevails as the mode of government
in theory and partly in practice, we find Power
Politics spreading and that in time of war. Power
Politics irrespective of democracy and autocracy, will
gradually take the place of government by consent. In
the first administration of Roosevelt, there was
Power Politics in America. National Recovery Act,
the New Deal, the various measures taken by Roose-
velt against depression were all off-springs of Power
Politics. In England which boasts of having the
oldest parliamentary system of government in the
world. Power Politics started when there was a

STJtA y THOUGHTS ON “ POWER POLITICS ” 197

National Government for the first time after the
fall of the Labour Party which could not govern.
This National Government was an all-party arrange-
ment but even that failed and a general election was
resorted to when the Conservative Party swept the
polls and secured the largest majority in parlia*
mentary history. As a national emergency even such
a situation where one party' gained the majority,
Power Politics intervened to' secure adequate power
over state affairs by including in the Government,
representatives of other parties which had no
majority. In other words, it was an artificial system
which had no cohesion or binding in the structure
of Government. In fact, there was no opposition
to speak of, and no democratic checks and counter-
checks whenever any particular measure was put
before the Legislature.

Power Politics therefore is a phase of modem
times and it has permeated into the political atmo-
sphere of India. Mahatma Gandhi is the greatest
exponent of Power Politics in the country. Apart from
his great moral force, his Power Politics takes count
of the minutest details of material and worldly con-
siderations weighing upon the minds of the people.
His followers are disciples of the Power Politics of
Gandhism. Next in importance is Mr. Jinnah. the
President of the All-India Muslim League who is
another exponent of Power Politics in India. The
so-called democratic character of the Muslim League,

198 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

the annual elections which vote him the President,
time after time, and autocratic power, he as
President exercises over the members who show
any dissent or disagreement, the dictatorial decisions
of the President in various instances against indivi-
duals or groups of individuals all constitute Power
Politics of the first magnitude. Take now the third
instance of Power Politics which are spreading amongst
the Depressed Classes through its leader Dr. Ambed-
kar. All the propaganda of this gentleman pre-
tending to raise the status of the Depressed Classes
throughout the country has as its foundation Power
Politics, meaning thereby securing greater power
through political propaganda, to lead the blind and
misguide the uneducated. Besides the three instances
of Power Politics which I have given above, there are
other minor variations of the same thing but they are
not so potent or productive of good or bad results
as are evident in the other three cases. The Hindu
Mahasabha, the National Liberal Federation, the
Non-Party Conference are all minor examples of
Power Politics in the country.

The inference is that when there is more than one
Power Politics in one country, no one of them can
succeed in erecting a political structure forcible
enough to enforce its decisions upon the people.
Divisions therefore will arise and cleavages of opi-
nion amongst groups of people will increase with the
result that no tangible constructive developments

STJIAY THOUGHTS ON " POWER POLITICS ” 198

can take place in the field of government and in
the region of industrial and economic progress
throughout the country. This is what we see in
India. - There is more talk than action. More
meetings and conferences than direct results.
Above all these manifestations, the Government of
Great Britain sit tight over the affairs of the country
knowing very well that the insecurity of their posi-
tion is not so great as each representative of Power
Politics would wish them to believe.

What is the outcome of all this in the ensuing
struggle ? A struggle not merely between Hindus
and Moslems but a struggle between community
and community, caste and caste, creed and creed,
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
The answer to the question is that no one Power
Politics in India will be able to establish a
stable government or a powerful government which
will vanquish its opponents and push them into the
comer. There will be, as time goes, many other
ramifications of Power Politics in this country.
I have not discussed the position of Indian States
and Princes for they are not representatives of any
kind of Power Politics in the land. They are in fact
victims of the Power Politics of Imperialism of the
British rule of the past, of which they are only relics
at the present time. What I anticipate is, that there
is not one strong Power Politics sufficiently able
to consolidate and vanouish the onoonents. Whal

200 THROUGH AN IND/AN CAMERA

hope has India therefore during the next quarter of a
century in the establishment of a rational system of
Power Politics to which the bulk of the people will
subscribe in the end whether they like it or not.
My answer to this question is in the negative.
India will go on discussing amongst different groups,
different kinds of Power Politics with no backing or
force behind to come out right in the open to fight.
In fact, there does not appear to be any very strong
conviction in the minds of the leaders of Power
Politics in India today to achieve any tangible and
lasting results.

Speech at the Y.M.C.A., Bourdilloa Branch, on
^ Planning for Prosperity ” at which Sir C. V. Raman
was the Principal Speaker
October 1944

Planning for prosperity is perhaps another
name for Economic Planning. Schemes for such
planning have been before us in India for the past
several months and only recently we have Sir M.
Visvesvaraya’s pamphlet — ^his ideas for economic
planning limiting the period to five years. Five
to ten years’ time limit is an extreme one for those
who prepare blue prints about this matter.

It is well to carefully study the scheme of plan-
ning which was adopted in Russia by Stalin and which
enabled that great country to resist the Germans and
finally oust them from the occupied territories which
they ravaged and destroyed to the utmost severity of
their brutality. Planning for prosperity at the present
moment cannot be conceived without reference to the
war and its aftermath. When war is over every country
will have to face this problem; but before prosperity
comes there is a great deal of clearing the debris
of destruction and then rebuilding what has been
destroyed, and it is difficult to fix a time limit for
all such work. Presuming the world can be recon-
structed in five years’ time — a gigantic task, then only
we can think of planning for prosperity in the future.
All war-time industries will have to be switched oflf

2r2 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAM&RA

to a new cycle of current to produce results more
lasting and beneficial to mankind. The industrial
workers and those now busily engaged in scientific
research to invent weapons or to counteract the
dangers of the inventions of our enemies will also
have to be driven to new channels. Both these
movements will require extensive training of youth
to enable them to do positive work and this they
cannot do without State help, and relief of economic
struggle. They have also to be taken into confi-
dence in the financial councils of national effort
to produce a new world to prevent extremism in
thought and action, and this can only be done if
vested interests of old people, old industrialists and
capitalists are not allowed to have their sway. No
planning for prosperity can succeed if we do not
eliminate the chances of revolt which will spring up
without harmony between different ideologies of
Socialism and Capitalism.

All future planning for prosperity will have
to look far ahead with research being the very
foundation, and the larger percentage of the State
revenues will have to be devoted to research.
On this foundation alone can the future prosperity
planning be constructed. Special studentship should
be setup in the Universities to deal adequately
with all the problems, not only of finance, currency
exchange, foreign and internal trade and com-r
tnerce but also scientific investigation into the use

SPEECH AT BOUHOILLON BRANCH Y.A/.C.A. 203

of all raw materials of the world, their supply
and distribution and a revision of the ordinary —
doctrines which have been preached by capitalistic
countries for their own benefit, and to exploit hitherto
the raw materials of less advanced countries for
manufacturing purposes and for diunping their
goods for consumption elsewhere. It is obvious
that planning for prosperity must be established
on a new and unfamiliar ground, to meet the novel
world problems that will have to be solved and which
are imprecedented in world history.

■“ Youth and the Post-War World ” as published
in the ** Indian Review ”

November 1944

The subject of post-war reconstruction has
become a hackneyed one so much so that it is now
a part and parcel of the machinery of government
already set in motion to co-ordinate plans and ideas
of which we have so many of late. It is, in fact, a
huge department of government which does not
administer but, I believe, prepares blue prints for
future action. In these blue prints, youth does not
find a place, and my object is to stress on the neces-
sity of paying attention to the part the youth of
all countries, allied nations, including India and
also Germany and her satellites, will play in the
post-war world.

Let us clear the ground first of all and get some
idea, however imperfect, of post-war conditions
that will follow when this global war is at an end.
The colossal loss of life reaching to several millions
will create a gap in the effective man-power of nations.
This will include civilian men and women who have
perished in air raids and also those who have been
persecuted and starved to death as prisoners of war
by Germany and Japan. So many of the world’s
best scientists, inventors, technicians, artists and
custodians of the highest intellectual culture amongst
4he promising younger generation will also be counted

“ YOUTH AND POST'WAR WORLD " 206

amongst those lost to the nations to which they
belonged. Those who return safely from the battle-
fields of land, air and sea will have a different out-
look on life and, others less fortunate who will or
are already amongst the wounded and who will be
much larger in numbers than in the last war, have
also to be taken into account in all post-war plans.
Their care will need a big national effort. The
number of the fighting forces when demobilised on
their return will be a grave, social and economic
problem and unemployment on a large scale will
baffle solution. Are all reconstruction plans fore-
stalling these difficulties ? There will be the housing
problem in all devastated countries, replanning or
rebuilding of large cities, towns and industrial cen-
tres destroyed, and lastly spread of disease, starva-
tion through want of food, suffering through want
of clothing and malnutrition also, dearth of raw
materials immediately required for rebuilding of
industries have all to be taken into account. There
will be a serious fall in the standard of wages and
a general scramble for the world’s raw materials
and other resources still intact and untouched.

How will youth find itself in the midst of all
the physical, moral and economic upset through-
out the world ? In theory we are hoping for the
millennium to come. The Blue Prints of post-wa“
reconstruction promise a higher standard of living
and the establishment of world organisations to

206 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

prevent future wars and aggression, less struggle
for existence, less suffering and bitterness and strife
as between nations and peoples, in fact peace and
good-will amongst mankind in general. But in
dealing with all schemes, have the originators con-
sidered the psychological and moral aspect? My
opinion is that they have mainly based their plans
on the material and economic point of view. His
Holiness the Pope in his recent broadcast said:
“At the end of the war there remains the problem
of social order which will be the object of a violent
struggle.” By this His Holiness the Pope evident-
ly means a struggle between different ideologies
which in his view will have to be reconciled by a
nobler ideal for peace and development of relations
between men, on the principles of unity and pros-
perity of all.

My own view is that after the war, the condi-
tions of the world will provide a field for youthful
activities on a gigantic scale. In spite of the stu-
pendous difficulties that youth will have to face at
the very start of all reconstruction programmes,
I have hopes that the youth movements in the different
countries which were gaining strength before the
war broke out will be revived to suit altered con-
ditions of life, and those organising it will have to
secure the co-operation of the best educationists
anxious to devote their energies to the framing of
the education policy that will alter the very outlook

YOUTff AND POSr-lVAX WORLD" 207

of youth on life in general. Just lately, I have had
some particulars sent to me by a friend in England
on the founding of youth centres in that country
which are intended to be a valuable addition to the
present inadequate system of education. They cover
the gap of 14 and 21 years and are run as kind of
clubs with official classes for teaching, also informal
groups for drama, discussions, games and music.
The youth movement will have to be reorganised
in Germany to make the youths of that country un-
learn the Nazi philosophy and the example of the
Russian youths will have also to be co-ordinated
with the new ideas that will spread in parts outside
Russia to bring about some compromise between
capitalism and communism. I personally think
that every country wilt produce amongst the youth
striking and original workers and thinkers to tackle
the world problems that will face them. The world
will no doubt be full of old people, and youth’s con-
tribution in the New World Order means that youth
must find a proper place in any scheme of recon-
struction, and this they cannot do unless they
undergo serious courses of training and acquire an
international outlook above the narrow national
patriotism in- their own country. The youth will
also constitute an effective recruiting ground for the
international organisation such as an international
Army. Air Force and Navy that will have to
constantly kept up in an efficient form to do their

208 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

dut> whenever called. This International Police Force
will naturally give the youth a tremendous outlet
for the development of their youthful energies,
enterprise and intelligence.

With the robust optimism which is character-
istic of youth, patience and forbearance and also
some sacrifice, the youth will be able to solve many
of the problems and give a lead to peoples struggling
for a higher and a fuller life.

Every scheme of post-war reconstruction must
take into account the nature of the governments
that will be set up and the machinery thereunder.
This specially applies to India. No scheme or plan
will succeed unless the whole nation is behind it and
it is co-ordinated with other schemes framed by the
international organisation.

Youth must receive more comprehensive
education, including social and political education
for citizenship. The equality of opportunity must
be essential for youth development. In the re-
planning of cities, young designers and architects
must be allowed to submit plans. In all post-war
schemes for which brains and inventiveness of a
higher order are necessary, youth should be given an
opportunity of being of service. As in Russia, youths
should be elevated to positions of responsibility in
the judicial, executive and economic organisation
of the State. All these will be possible only with poli-
tical education. Knowledge of geography and history

“ YOUTH AHO POST'tVAR WORLD " 205

on an international basis will be essential. Inter*
nationalmindedness should be acquired under
conditions of the New World Order. Many are the
problems which youth will have to face, but solu-
tion will come within its own heart. Grave res-
ponsibility lies on the heads of those framing the
education equipment of the future for post-war
reconstruction.

In the post-war period, let us hope that old ideas
of capital and labour and even Russian or rather
the Soviet system of life based on communistic
doctrines will undergo noticeable changes in the
minds of the younger generation. They are likely
to view with favour the socialistic doctrines in some
form or other and denounce capitalism as has been
the practice in the United States of America and
also in Great Britain.

Youth will be impatient and unwilling to wait
for a long period of years but demand that some-
thing should be done in the immediate future to
achieve results that will benefit them both economi-
cally and in other ways. In order therefore to
secure the co-operation of youth something has to
be done for them, otherwise the part that they will
play will not be helpful but obstructive. When
it is helpful they will form a strong bulwark against
the disruptive forces of society and counteract
those tendencies that are rigid and conservative
amongst the elder politicians who will naturally

210 THROUGH AH IHDIAH CAME.RA

have the temptation to cling to their original faiths
and in other words, there will be a great clash be-
tween youth and age more than ever before in the
history of mankind. The chances are that youth
will win in the battle, and to conserve, utilise and
take advantage of all the youthful forces of all the
different nations, the elder politicians have a great
task before them for they have to look far
ahead and sacrifice many of their own cherished
principles in the interests of the national govern-
ment of each country which cannot be expected to
function without the wholehearted co-operation of
youth in every sphere of national activity.

Now let us for a moment consider what may
be the part youth will take in the post-war recon-
struction. Their ambition will be very much higher
after the war is over. Once you have framed your
post-war reconstruction schemes on the principles
explained above, youth will be a very strong co-
operative influence to bring about a new era and
a new outlook amongst all the nations. There is
also another important duty towards youth which
the powers that will wield their authority over the
whole nation must discharge, v/z., bring about a
spirit of harmony and co-operation under some
scheme of international peace organisations in which
the youth should be asked to play a leading part.
Peace movements that have been started have not
succeeded in preventing wars, and is an inter-

"YOUTH AND POST-WAR WORLD" 211

national organisation bringing together different
nations to establish an International Army, Air Force
or an International Navy will not succeed unless
youth is brought up with the conviction that their
participation will not result in an actual struggle
for advantage as between one nation against the
other, but will bring about harmony and prevent
rivalry, exploitation and jealousy. Youth must be
convinced that any organisation that is set up is
efficacious and also fruitul of good results, other-
wise they will not be sympathetic co-operators but
secretly grow into actual hostile agents to thwart the
very foundation of such peace organisations of the
future.

The future of the East and West in the New
World Order is sure to take a prominent place in the
youthful mind after the war. It will be dangerous
to make any prognostications as to the political
education that will be given to the youths of the West
as differentiated from the youths of the East, in-
cluding India, but it is obvious that the Eastern
Hemisphere will become a new and weighty element
in establishing a new equilibrium in the demand
for world peace. The youth of India will have put
before them the various philosophies of Nazism,
Communism and many other isms, some of which
stand in the name of democracy. The youth of
the West will be greatly influenced by the communistic
doctrines of Russia, however much they may be

212 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

altered to suit post-war conditions, but to quote
H. G. Wells’ book, The New World Order, ” the estab-
lishment of a progressive world socialism in which
the freedoms, health and happiness of every indi-
vidual is protected by a universal law based on a
re-declaration of the rights of man providing for
the utmost liberty of thought, criticism and sugges-
tion is the ideal to be kept in view in all plans ol
post-war reconstruction”. There is no doubt that the
youth of all countries could come in a line to work
out the youth movement adapting it to local cir-
cumstances and conditions of each nation.

The education problem in the post-war period
is of the utmost importance for it primarily affects
youth. Education will continue to have in a larger
measure an economic motive and for that reason
alone all university education has to be reorganised
and while academic standards must be kept up to
the highest and research encouraged by larger
grants from the State exchequer in every countrji
for the benefit of science which in its turn will help
the industrial development, the education of youth
should give a stimulus to youthful energies being
directed towards a positive aim of the human mind
that will lead to a higher culture and a higher civi-
lisation than that which has yet been achieved.

I have not specifically referred as yet to the
youth of India. So far, India has not experienced
the severe war conditions and hardships and horrors

"YOUTH AND POST-WAR WORLD" 213

in the war zone of Europe and other countries even
China, such as loss of life, property and general dis-
location of economic conditions, except only in part.
Youth has been mobilised for war service but in
effect youth has been able to continue its studies
in schools and universities and in fact, obtained
greater opportunities of showing merit and capa-
city in various spheres specially in war industries —
no doubt a great promise for the future. By com-
parison the youth of India is superior in intelligence,
adaptability and quickness to learn and has proved
what it can achieve, if given the chance. Training
centres under tbe Labour Department of the Govern-
ment of India and the Bevin Scheme for training
technicians have opened further avenues for youthful
employment in industrial development for the future.
But amidst these hopeful features we have the present
system of literary education conferring degrees,
that produces unemployment. Large increase in the
population of the country has made the problem
of village primary and mass education a colossal
one, still unsolved. Technical training centres are
few. Scientific research is limited and expenditure
thereon is but a drop in the ocean and in the
country’s finance. To help Indian youth in
taking a proper place in the post-war world,
the whole educational system of India has to be
reorganised. Youth movement should be established
in every town and village to supplement the work

214 THROUGH AH IHDtAH CAMERA

of educational institutions/ Physical culture and
medical care of the students are all to form part
in a big national scheme. Greater opportunities
should be afforded by the State for technical
education^ scientific research and foreign travel,
providing also for exchange of students all over
the world. Then only will the youth of India
rise to the height unprecedented in India’s national
progress and help to make this country a living
example of what youth can achieve in the new
social order that is to come.

Speech at the Prize-Giving of the Indian
Institution of Science Gymkhana
March 1945

Lord Snell before he died wrote on the use and
misuse of leisure in an article he contributed to a
London paper, from which I quoted the following
sentences in my book. The Rhythm of Living. “One
set of people use their bodies as though they have
no brains, while another set so drive their brains
that their bodies remain undeveloped. Every human
being should aim to become a well balanced per-
sonality and not allow himself to develop into a
mere lopsided imitation of a well proportioned man.”

This is very true. Physical culture and keep
fit movements of all kinds including sports, com-
petitions, Olympic games have all their great value
in a general all-round system of education and the
training of youth, but they may be overdone in
some cases and this we have to guard against.

There should be an adjustment between our
internal and external environment at the present
time, especially when the life of individuals is put
to the severest strain both internally and externally
owing to present ccrd tions of living. Our educa-
tion system today imposes undue strain on youth
whch is injurious to the body, on the other hand
disproportionate attention to sports as a counter-
measure and unbalanced development of the body

216 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

may produce a material culture of strength which is
exemplified strongly in the Youth Movement of
Germany, the Balila Movement of Italy and the
Zocol Movement of Czechoslovakia — ^all of which
became very powerful just before the present
war. What is needed therefore is co-ordination of
physical and mental development which will pro-
duce the best results in all activities for the good
of the individual and for the good of the nation.
Just as a sound education will remove prejudice,
create a fraternity and fellowship amongst the
scholars and students of all races and creeds,
sound physical training and sports of all kinds
like the co-ed. sports of the Stanford University
of California will bring forth healthy manifestations
of physical strength and energy in a spitrt of healthy
rivalry adding to the efficiency of men and women
in a well co-ordinated national existence.

Research work with which you are engaged
requires a qu'ck and an alert brain, but also a sound
physical constitution to bear the continued strain
caused by the pursuit of a scientific idea or problem.
Hence I am glad to see such a fine set of young men
in the Institue Gymkhana who are fully alive to the
necessity of developing a well balanced personality
which India needs in a large measure at the present
moment.

The task that lies ahead of you is tedious but
stimulating in view of the great possibilities of the

SPEECH At PKIZE-GIVING OF /./.SC. G/M/CHA.VA 217

future advance of research in India, and I wish you
one and all success in every sphere of your work
and hope you will take the lead to raise India to a
higher level of scientific investigation that will bring
about the cultural and economic renaissance of our
country as a whole.

Speech Inaugurating the Third Conference of
the 91st District of Rotary International
held at Bangalore
April 1945

It gives me great pleasure to be with you this
morning, and while thanking you for the honour
that you have chosen me to perform the inaugura-
tion of this Conference. I may touch a personal note
regarding my association with the Rotary Move-
ment. This commenced in 1930 in England and I
have been invited by several Rotary Clubs in Eng-
land, the United States and India during the past
15 years to speak to them on the perplexing Indian
tangle from an international standpoint, six occa-
sions in England, three in the United States, and
four in India including Bangalore. You will thus
see that though not a Rotarian de jure I have been a
Rotarian in spirit and service, and have had ample
opportunities of acquainting myself with your mar-
vellous growth in all continents and in all nations.

It forcibly struck me that Rotary started in its
original association, forty years ago, within a local
area of the various professions, trades and crafts,
and then holding out its hand to those other towns
similarly constituted in membership, moved on and
on in genial fellowship until at last it reached the
sea. With the attainment of that boundary, there
came the day when the spirit of fellowship crossed

SPEECH AT ROTARY INTERNA TIONAL, BANGALORE 219

the seven seas’, and the spirit bom in obscurity be-
came international in character; from lighting the
lives of a few it has cast its genial glow on the many,
until today its reflection is seen across the sky of
the whole world. It is in its international unity and
understanding a medium, simple in its operation, for
undertaking that which perplexes a bewildered world.

Nearly five years ago, at the inauguration of the
31st Annual Convention of Rotary International in
Havana, the President said: “The years to come
reserve for Rotary a most difficult and arduous task,
to heal the wounds of a world destroyed by war;
to substitute for hate mutual understanding and
tolerance; to create affection where rancour exists.
That is the superhuman task which Rotary is to
undertake.” This global war has made that task
greater in intensity and in volume today than it was
in 1940. From 1939, since the war began, Rotarians
have worked earnestly to carry out their programme.
In 1941 they established a committee on participa-
tion in the post-war world, and later another com-
mittee on Adjustment from War to Peace. A
World to Live In and Peace is a Process are two
remarkable publications of the Rotary movement.

The expansion of the Rotary Movement during
the past five years has been phenomenal. Its member-
ship has increased from 185,200 to 232,925. The
number of clubs has increased from 4,367 to 5,276. In
India the movement has spread far and wide. You

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have in the 91st District alone 22 Clubs with 730
members and in Bangalore 86 members. The third 91st
District Rotary Conference meets today in a more
hopeful atmosphere. The end of the European
war is in sight. Japan's complete defeat is sure
to follow. Earnest efforts to presettle some of
the pressing post-war problems by holding frequent
international conferences in all matters of vital
interest have raised the belief that reconstruction
work has already begun. The most important of
such conferences was the Dumbarton Oaks Confe-
rence held last autumn, which drew up provisional
plans for setting up a world security and economic
organisation the details of which are well known.
The San Francisco Conference is about to meet to
put into final shape the Dumbarton Oaks plan.
A large number amongst the United Nations are
represented, including India. But many delicate and
difficult questions on which misunderstandings are
sure to arise will come up for discussion. I will
just mention a few. The suggestion of international
trusteeship for colonial areas, by which the trustees
will be held accountable for their administration to
a world organisation, is sure to be opposed by
Great Britain, France and Holland with Colonial
Empires. The future of the Mandatory territories
and the application of the Atlantic Charter to them
to protect their territorial and political indepen-
dence, is another thorny problem. The voting

SPEECH AT ROTARY INTERNATIONAL. BANGALORE 221

Strength of the bigger nations as fixed at the Yalta
Conference by a separate Treaty has already caused
a flutter. The right of small nations to participate on
a basis of sovereign equality, which is the main
principle of the Dumbarton Oaks plan, is also being
debated upon. Only a few days ago, Russia demanded
a seat for the Polish Lublin Government on the ground
that lack of American and British recognition was
no reason to exclude it. Besides, the Anglo-American
view-point in regard to self-determination is not
identical as clearly pointed out in a recent communU
cation to Time magazine of the United States by a
writer who said:

“The position of both the U.S. and Britain
leaves much to be desired. The U.S. says, in
effect, that we guarantee to you your right to
form a government of your own choosing but
we will do nothing to assist you in this. Great
Britain says, in effect, that we guarantee to
you your right to form a government of which

we approve There must be a happier policy

midway between these conflicting positions.’’
India holds an anomalous position though it
has sent to San Francisco two official representa-
tives and one from the Indian States. Even with
the protection of the British Government it may
have to face objections such as those recently put
forward by an American Senator to the introduc-
tion of the Indian Immigration Bill. He saidt

222 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

“There is a difference between China and India.
India is not independent' and the political situation
there is very unsettled.” Surely, India does not
know where she stands. Will the sovereignty of
India be declared before the San Francisco Confe-
rence meets? That is a question now uppermost
in the minds of many. God forbid that the San
Francisco Conference is postponed or ends in a
fiasco, or that Indian participation on terms of
equality with G.eat Britain, Canada, Australia and
South Africa is in any way questioned.

Now what about India itself? Post-war re-
construction figured prominently in your discussions
at the last conference in Mysore. Since then a year
has elapsed. Endless blue prints have been
prepared for British Provinces and Indian States.
The second part of the Bombay Plan has also been
published. But it is generally conceded even by
the Planning Member of Goventment that without
a National Government and co-ordination no plan
is likely to succeed. In a letter to the press in January
last year, I emphasised this point and added: “To
what extent full Provincial and State autonomy and
a distribution of administrative territories based on
racial, linguistic and other considerations can be
reconciled with an all-India control, is a moot ques-
tion. But we can take a leaf out of the book of
Soviet Russia which has successfully evolved
a scheme embracing the whole Soviet Union and

SPEECH AT ROTARY INTERNATJOhrAL, BANGALORE 22 ^

has mobilised in a remarkable degree the enthusiasm
and co-operation of all the peoples in that Union.”^
Today you are individually and as a body in
a better position to review the whole situation.
India, in the sixth year of the war, stands where she
stood before politically and economically in spite of her
magnificent war effort in men, money and materials.
India’s financial contribution, as declared in the House
of Commons, up to March 1943, was approximately
£ 600,000,000, and the costs were then running to
about £ 225,000,000 a year. Up to date, the total
must be well over 1,000 million pounds. India’s
fighting forces towards the end of 1943 were about
two million. India’s Air Force at the same time
was ten times what it was pre-war and- the Royal
Indian Navy thirteen times. The war services of
the fighting forces have been handsomely recog-
nised in many theatres of war.

Is it all the fault of India that she is still a de-
pendency without a National Government ? Does
not discontent prevail in the whole field of administra-
tion? If proof is wanted one has only to look at
the phenomenal record of Government defeats in
the Central Assembly. But if major political parties
can unite in criticism when criticism is due, why can-
not they join hands on the constructive side ? Can
we not at this juncture remove the slur of disunity
and follow the lead of the Conciliation Committee
presided over by Sir T. B. Sapru ? If this process

224 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

fails, we should follow the advice of Sir Jehangir
Gandhy. General Manager of Tatas, to let politicians
alone. In a recent speech calling upon the busi-
nessmen in India to solve the deadlock, he said,
“By virtue of their training and experience, business-
men are generally inclined to be tolerant of honest
differences and used to practical methods of compro-
mise.” If international conferences are the order of the
day, why not all India in the Rotary world hold con-
ferences of Provinces and States, talking over each
problem separately, inviting delegates amongst promi-
nent businessmen, industrialists, doctors, engineers
and educationists ? I am aware that a committee was
formed by the Rotary International to consider the
problems of world reconstruction in 1940. Why not
a Rotary All-India Committee be formed to discuss
the Indian problem as it is today ?

As the war ends, this problem becomes more
pressing and all-important. The economic con-
dition of the people will deteriorate; rancour and
bitterness will increase as time goes on. Recon-
struction plans will remain blue-prints and nothing
more. Divergent theories such as those relating
to State ownership of industries and nationalisa-
tion on the one hand, and private enterprise on the
other, between State Socialism and Capitalism, will
create endless discussion.

I am a great believer in the Rotary Movement
as a powerful instrument to influence world opinion.

SPEECH A T ROTAEY IHTBRHA TIONAL, BANGALORE 225

Now is the time for it to get a grip over the Indian
situation.

In spite of dark clouds hanging over us. I am
not a pessimist. With the genuine determination
all over the world to bring about a New Order, the
dawn of a peaceful era is in sight, in which every
man can live in decency and comfort and every
nation can prosper without exploitation and domi-
nation. Why should India lag behind ? Her internal
problems are surely not so beyond solution that
even with inter-provincial, inter-statal, inter-communal
friendship and understanding reached in a true Rotary
spirit she will fail to evolve a master key to future
happiness for all the Indian peoples, that will un-
lock one racial handicap after another — ^a key that
will succeed where the giants of our times have
failed.

I have now much pleasure in declaring the
Conference open and wish it every success (Cheers).

Letter to the Press on
“ Saprii Committee Proposals ”

April 1945

The Conciliation Committee reminds one of
the Non-Party Conference with Motilal. Nehru as
Chairman, nearly 30 years ago, and it is a noteworthy
coincidence that in both the Conferences two dis-
tinguished Kashmiris have led the way.

It is however unfortunate that the text cannot
be regarded as complete in detail, and it would have
been more advisable to publish a fuller report at
this stage.

The idea is to form a Union of India leaving
it to the option of the Indian States to join later.
Pakistan is definitely opposed and the future con-
stitution is to be framed by a constitution-making
body giving the number of each community or
interests to make up a total 160. The Committee
recommends that the Hindus should agree to the
representation of the Moslem Community being
on a par with that given to them other than Schedule
Castes.' I fear that without some compromise on
the Pakistan question, the Moslem agreement will
not be forthcoming.

As regards the Pakistan issue, ihe Committee’s
opposition leaves no room for compromise, and
the C. R. formula is apparently thrown overboard.
My own view is that the two conflicting interests

"SAPXU COMMITTEE PROPOSALS" 227

represented by the theoretical idea of India’s in-
tegrity on the one hand and the necessity for a re-
distribution of territorial units for administrative
purposes on the other, can be reconciled in a manner
which I have indicated in the chapter Union of India
in my latest book What is Wrong with India.

The omission of Indian States in the first plan
of the Committee is to my mind a serious defect.
A delegate has gone to California to represent
Indian States at the Conference, and having regard
to the war-effort of the Princes and their people their
position cannot now be left indefinite in the future
constitution if they come into the World Organisa-
tion of the future. My opinion is that no Union
of India can be established without the States coming
in, and twelve of the principal Indian States
could be raised to the status of fully autonomous
kingdoms like the re-arranged British Provinces as
proposed in Chapter XIV of my book. In my opi-
nion, it is putting the cart before the horse to leave
the Indian States alone for the present, and to shelve
for future consideration the question of realign-
ment of provincial boundaries on linguistic or
cultural consideration.

It would be very difficult for the new constitu-
tion as sketched out to have a Head of the State on
a five years tenure of office. It is difficult to under-
stand how in the second alternative it is proposed
that the Head of the State shall be elected bv

228 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

the Rulers of Indian States when their status has
not been raised. Furthermore, it is not feasible
to have an Electoral College for his election. It
does not seem possible that the constitution-making
body will agree to the appointment of the Head of
the Stats by His Majesty the King of England or by
the Rulers, having in view the powers that he will
exercise. The example of the Irish Free State may
be borne in mind.

It is not clear how the Union Assembly is to
be constituted on the population basis of one member
for every million. The total population of India
is not of one standard, either in education, literacy,
earning power, etc. How will ths million blocks
be created, with unequal distribution between urban
and rural areas ?

Only 40 are going to be distributed to land-
holders, commerce and industries, labour and women.
This representation is very limited and inadequate.

Under Clause (c) it is very doubtful whether the
Moslem community will agree to the substitution
of joint electorates.

The powers assigned to the Centre have not
been comprehensively defined. Civil aviation, rail-
ways, all-India transportation. Harbour develop-
ment have not been taken into account. Industrial
Development and Post-War Reconstruction on a
co-ordinated basis have also to be included, not to
speak of irrigation and water-ways.

“ SAPRU COMMITTEE PROPOSALS ” 229

Under Union Executive, it is proposed to have
a composite Cabinet and this cabinet is to consist
of Ministers representing the different communi-
ties and only six classes have been mentioned, the
Parsees for example being excluded. If the Cabi-
net is to be held together and led by a Prime Minis-
ter, from what community will he be chosen ? It
is not clear how he can secure a stable majority.
For the first time the word Party has been used in
the sentence “Ordinarily be leader of the Party which
by itself or by combination of other parties is able
to command a stable majority.” The Party sys-
tem is not envisaged in the proposal. It is a system
of community representation.

The position of the Head of the State as part
of the Union Legislature and that of the Prime
Minister as leader of the Cabinet are sure to be over-
lapping. If the Head of the State is President, his
powers require clearer definition.

It is proposed to have a minority commission
outside the Legislatures independent of the con-
stitution. If the Cabinet and the Legislature are
not able to protect the minorities, then the Govern-
ment will not function, and what the Government as
reconstituted cannot do, the minority commissions
will not be able to do.

The Committee’s text does not give any
information as to electorate — ^the mode of elections,
qualifications for voters and candidates. It is

230 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

imperative that the franchise should be widely
extended even amongst women, and the question
of adult suffrage may have to be kept in view in
this respect.

The language question is another important
matter and provincial autonomous units of the Union
will certainly ask for their own language to be the
official and State language, and at the Centre the
members of the Legislature will also ask for the
freedom to speak in the language of their own unit.
It is idle to dream just now that a common Indian
language will come into being for constitutional
purposes, but it may one day be realised.

In conclusion, it may be said that the Commit-
tee’s proposals do not solve the communal problem
nor the Indian State problem, and although they
disclose a painstaking and a bonafide effort to evolve
a scheme of conciliation, there is no parallel to be
found anywhere that would give guidance from
past experience, nor can it be reasonably hoped that
the Congress, Muslim League, the Minorities and
the two-fifths of Indian India, and the Rulers thereof
will view eye to eye with these proposals.

The End of the War in Europe — ^What It Means
May 19, 1945

The surrender agreement has been signed
between the German authorities on the one hand
now in power so to speak and the United States,
Great Britain and Russia on the other through their
military representatives. So far we are now in full
possession of all the facts relating to the collapse
of German military machines and the certainty of
enforcing surrender terms upon Germany as a
whole. The details of the surrender document are
not yet out and there is no doubt that the three big
powers have to confer and come to a definite
understanding as to the manner in which those
terms are to be enforced. It may be remembered
that when the surrender agreement was being dis-
cussed and about to be ratified by the parties
concerned, Russia was still fighting Germany in
and around Dresden and only today there is news
that the Germans have reopened fire on the Russians
in Prague against the surrender agreement. It is
just as well therefore to face the realities of the
situation in the sense that those who have signed
the agreement on behalf of Germany may or may
not have the power to enforce the terms on their
own people, and as they have nothing more to lose
they can without any concern face the worst when
the time comes, and plead that they are impotent

232 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

and powerless. Then there is also the contingency
of unrest and disorder not only from the military
side but also from the civil population in all the
liberated countries of Europe where according to
the surrender agreement there is to be no more
fighting. Once a huge conflagration like the world
war goes smouldering on it is impossible to expect
that the fire will subside immediately or that the
burning embers will not cause mischief from below
the surface. What has happened in Greece may
happen elsewhere in the Balkans, Italy, in France
not to say Poland. There is already concern about
the independent action taken by individual countries
since liberated such as the occupation of Trieste.
Some of the outstanding questions of a military
character have not yet been agreed upon, and it
would therefore be wise not to be over-sanguine
as to the termination of war in all its aspects in
Europe. Furthermore, the Nazi surrender does not
mean that Nazism is dead in Germany when one
is not sure about Hitler.

Even though the situation may be from the
point of view of unfavourable possibilities overesti-
mated as above, let us for a moment consider should
all things come right, what the end of the war in
Europe means today. One would naturally ex-
pect that the prisoners in the hands of Germany
should forthwith be repatriated and liberated to their
espective countries, especially those of British,

THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE 233

French, American and other European nationalities.
We have so far heard nothing about this. This
will mean corresponding action on the part of allies
to utilise the German prisoners which according to
the figures quoted during the last six months, amount
to nearly two million for rehabilitation work on a
large scale. What is going to be done to them, how
are they going to be put under restraint, disarmed,
fed and clothed, whether all this is a task that will
devolve upon the Red Cross organisation or upon
the allies themselves, is a question.

Ordinarily when hostilities cease the general
rejoicing and optimism which reign supreme in the
minds of the peoples thus relieved from all the
horrors and anxieties and uncertainties of war
would naturally anticipate a cessation of war acti-
vities. In view of the Dumbarton Oaks proposals
which involve the maintenance of strong forces of
the allies and the personnel of the military forces
including the Navy, Army, Air Force, at the dis-
posal of the Security Council, the end of the war
does not mean demobilisation of the fighting forces
of the allies. The personnel of the military forces
including the Army, Navy and Air Force and the rest
has to be chosen gradually with full agreement of all
the United Nations for the International Organisation,
This will take time. In the meantime, occupied German
will require for proper subjugation and to ensure
the prevention of any rising among the people a

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Strong army of occupation. As between the two
arrangements there is naturally going to be much
discussion and delay and in that sense the war is
really not over. Then there is the possibility of
guerilla warfare outside the terms of the surrender
agreement for which nobody would be responsible
and the Germans themselves as partisans and
patriots of their own Fatherland may play the part
of disguised neutrals in the matter. Where is thus
the end of the war in view of all these uncertain
factors, which are so clearly described in an article
in the Readers Digest called “The Nazis Own Plans
for Underground War” for the month of December
1944.

Turning now to war production, war industries
and the huge organisation for producing arms,
ammunitions, aeroplanes, tanks, submarines, ships
and the break-neck pace with which the
war activities have been conducted during
the past few years, these cannot all be suddenly
slowed down. The spirit of the people engaged
will have to be carefully studied for whereas in one
sense they will have still to be occupied in fniitless
and unnecessary endeavour, on the other they will
be greatly disturbed in mind owing to the sword of
Democles hanging over their heads with the fear
of cessation of work that may be ordered at any
time. Who knows that already during these periods
of suspense, retrenchment orders have been issued

THE END OF THE WAR IN EUROPE 236

to all departments of war activities throughout
Europe, America and Russia and even India. We
therefore really do not know what exactly is the
situation today at the end of the war in Europe,
whether expenditure is still going to be carried on
in terms of millions per day and whether the policy
of reconstruction, rehabilitation and rebuilding will
have to be provided from the funds thus liberated
from the sphere of war expenditure for the above
purposes. In short, the people of the world do not
know where they stand. There is no great Leader
of the world today who can lay down a policy that
is sure to be carried out by all the United Nations
and the view-point of the United States, Great
Britain and Russia in respect of the thorny questions
will not be the same. There are already signs of
serious differences of opinion in matters of practical
action to control the aftermath of war in so many
countries. What a tragedy Roosevelt is no more.

Let us therefore not be too optimistic and
relax heaving a sigh of relief. On the other hand it
is our duty to remember the loss of millions of lives
that has taken place in the battlefields of Europe,
Russia and North Africa for the cause of freedom
and strive every nerve to bring about the real end
of the war so that it may be truly said that they
have not died in vain.

In the early days when the war broke out in
1939 at least for six months there was a great

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■controversy in England as regards war aims of Great
Britain, and many critics said that it was a phoeney
war. Let us beware that there may not be a fear
in the minds of the relieved people today that it
is a phoeney surrender and a phoeney end of the war
in Europe. Necessary guarantees have to be given
and enforced by those in authority amongst the
three big powers that with their united voice may
be enforced upon all the subjugated elements both
from the point of view of military as well as economic
considerations. Then only we would be able to
say that the war has really ended in Europe and
there is not the least chance of the fire still burning
and smouldering to. cause further destruction and
to spread smoke all over to disguise the true facts
being known by the ordinary common man.

The war between China and Japan and against
Japan which is still being fought by U.S.A. and the
British Empire including India is not yet over. The
Indian struggle for independence still continues.
True world peace has yet to come and let us not
forget in our present rejoicings the hard task that
still lies before all the liberated countries the task
of co-ordination and mutual readjustments to bring
about a lasting peace amongst all the nations of the
world.

Views on the Wavel Plan
June 1945

A very large number of distinguished Indians
including most of the political leaders from all parts
of the country have already commented on the Plan
which has now been put forward by His Majesty’s
Government through the Viceroy and the Secretary
of State, to end the political deadlock. It is a happy
augury that the general consensus points to the
desirability of acceptance of the Plan during the
interim period. It would be a thousand pities if on
account of theoretical differences of opinion, the
Plan is shattered at the Conferene Table and the
unique opportunities now given are lost. It is
nevertheless important at this juncture to rivet our
attention to some of the practical difficulties in the
execution of the Plan. Besides, there are many
doubts which require clarification.

A few of these may be mentioned: Firstly,
if the Plan is to form an interim government at the
Centre without prejudice to the final constitutional
settlement, how long is this kind of government to
continue? No time limit has been fixed nor has
any suggestion been made for working out the
future constitution during the interim period.
Secondly, it is laid down in the Plan that the recon-
stituted Executive Council at the Centre must work
within the frame of the present constitution Act.
If there is a deadlock, what happens next ? Thirdly,

238 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

if the members of the reconstituted Council are
nominated by the Viceroy after consulting all the
political leaders in the proportion as to the number
and representation as indicated in the Plan, to whom
will this body be responsible? Fourthly, it is a
question how the change to be introduced at the
Centre can lead India forward to attain full Dominion
Status. It would appear that democracy and Party
Government as understood in the West and which
India has been aiming at during the past two or
three decades are to be abandoned. On the other
hand, it is clear that as a further development of
the principle of communal electorates, a Communal
Cabinet is for the first time to be established even
though it be a temporary measure. Once such a
practice is introudced, it will be very difficult to
abandon it and the evil consequences it may lead
to will not be easily eradicated.

In paragraph 18 of Mr. Amery’s pronounce-
ment in the House of Commons, it is stated that
responsible government may be established in the
Provinces based on the participation of the main
political parties, thus soothing down communal
differences. So far it is not clear how the Provincial
Legislatures are to be re-established and the Provincial
Executives constituted. There is a contradiction in
terms between responsible government and a com-
munally represented executive not responsible to the
Legislature.

VIEIVS ON THE WAV EL PLAN 239

Generally speaking, it may be apprehended
that the selection of Excutive Councillors from
amongst Indian politicians, who are heads of the
most important sections, will cause heartburning,
rivalry and jealousy amongst many. Political
parties as such have not all crystallised themselves
like the Congress and the Muslim League. The use
of the terminology “Caste Hindus” has already
raised serious objections and the explanation of
the Viceroy in the correspondence that has already
been published between him and Mr. Gandhi does
not clear the difficulties that will surely crop up
regarding this manner of classification. There may
be need for some modification in this respect to give
effect to the decision “ That the selection for appoint-
ment by the Viceroy to his Executive should be from
amongst leaders of Indian political life at the Centre,
and in the Provinces in proportions which would
give a balanced representation of the main commu-
nities inlcuding equal proportions of Moslems and
Caste Hindus”. It will be most difficult for the Viceroy
to secure from the members of the Conference a
list of names as he hopes to do on these lines.

The Plan seems very simple concentrating as
it does its attention mainly on the Central Executive,
but it must be noted that like the Communal Award
given before the 1935 Act was passed, the thin end
of the wedge for communal representation at the
Central Executive will find its place almost perma-

240 THROUGH AN INDIAN CAMERA

nently. There is also the danger that this form of
communal government will at every stage cause a
scramble for office amongst the respective commu-
nities, and there will be a tremendous amount of
intrigue, wire pulling and even corruption. It is
well known that the clamour for representation in
India is primarily based on the desire to obtain
prestige and influence and also patronage which is
highly prized by those in office. The general bulk
of the Indian people are not sufficiently advanced
to be guided by their spirit of national welfare
irrespective of caste and creed or community.
Lastly, selecting a few political leaders and giving
them power and influence over their respective
groups created on communal or religious differences
will, I fear, not lay the foundation for Indian inde-
pendence or a higher status for India as a self-
governing Dominion in the eyes of the World. My
considered opinion therefore is that this interim
Plan will only increase bitter antagonism in the
communal field and will not promote that confidence,
good-will and harmony necessary before India can rise
to the fpll status of a self-governing Dominion. The
Plan will encourage rivalry for power and the so-
called Indianisation will give more power to the
I.C.S. Secretaries representing as in England the
permanent Advisers with this difference that the
British Ministers are responsible to the British
Legislature, and here the new Ministers will not be

VJEWS ON THE WAVEL PLAN 241

responsible to even their own parties but only to
the Viceroy for the time being.

To me it is clear that democracy and party govern-
ment as understood throughout the world will not be
applicable to India, and whether some other form of
constitution more applicable to the country can be
conceived other than one that is suggested for the
interim period is a question that deserves very deep and
earnest consideration of the Indian political leaders.

One last word. It is unfortunate that the Indian
States have been left out altogether in the nev Plan
and for the present nothing will affect the relations
of the Crown with them through the Crown Re-
presentative. How long will the stagnant character
of the Indian States problem continue without any
regard to their future place in the All-India Consti-
tution and the part they must play in post-war re-
construction throughout the country, is a question
for consideration. Sooner the representatives of
Indian States enter into an agreement with the
Indian political leaders the better for all concerned,
or else there is danger of their forming themselves
into another Ulster in which British control over
two-fifths of the Indian sub-continent will conti-
nue as it exists at present.

Note — ^Many of these observations have proved
themselves correct during the Conference and by
its failure to come to a settlement.

EPILOGUE

No more shots from the camera will be included
in this collection. The year 1945 will go down
in history as the culmination of a titanic struggle
enveloping the whole world; and though, at enor-
mous sacrifice, victory has been won, and the din
of battle is no longer heard, the constructive work
of rehabilitation and establishment of peace has
only just begun.

The problems confronting the master-minds that
are engaged in building up a new world order have
been dealt with, however imperfectly, in the foregoing
pages in which I have attempted to bring together
the thoughts, hopes and fears that have arisen in
the mind of a common man returning after a break
to old familiar scenes of his own country. The
justification for placing them in a readable form is
that, though there has been a lapse of time from the
recording of the first item in the collection, yet the
solution of the complex problems indicated is no-
where yet in sight. The Indian horizon is still over-
cast with clouds of bitterness and misunderstanding
and attempts, though feeble, of dispersing them with
some solution may, perchance, be successful if, in
the confusion of conflicting claims and suggestions,
some orderly answer may be found in the foregoing
pages by those who aim at a disinterested settlement.

792 46 Printed at The Ban<aio>fe ProsB. Bangalore City
by Q. Srinivasa Rao, Superintendent